Garry Fairbairn

Reflecting on 75 years of history can be a humbling experience. In the three quarters of a century since the Western Producer was founded, this newspaper and its readers have passed through depression, war, drought and other challenges that make many of today’s social and economic problems seem minor. Fire, flood, or crop failure can […] Read more

With another two months to go before Parliament can resume consideration of the government bill to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act, farmers have an opportunity to press for improvements to the bill. In the view of many, it would have been better if the bill, with all its flaws, had been passed before Parliament […] Read more

Is agriculture minister Ralph Goodale weakening in his efforts to defend the Canadian Wheat Board? Officially, the answer is no. But recent comments indicate the minister has at times felt somewhat abandoned by pro-board farmers. In exchanges with Saskatchewan Wheat Pool delegates last month, he warned them against complacency in the continuing debate over wheat […] Read more

One of the least noticed but fundamentally important features of the various pool annual meetings this fall was a presentation from an organization that one Manitoba pool director called “probably one of the best-kept secrets from our membership.” The organization was the Canadian Co-operative Association, which sent executive director Nora Sobolov to pool meetings. The […] Read more

Western Canadian hog producers were reminded last week that they are not the only ones facing opposition in their efforts to expand the pork industry. In Iowa, which produces more hogs than any other U.S. state, there are almost weekly articles in major papers about groups opposing livestock developments, the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium was […] Read more

Headlines and newscasts tend to be dominated by cabinet ministers, corporate leaders, special-interest groups and private or public bureaucracies. Often, what such newsmakers are talking about are forces of change that ordinary citizens have little or no control over – global trade and investment rules, El Nino, transportation infrastructures and costs, currency exchange rates and […] Read more

Once again, politicians are being treated to the sight of farmers fighting among themselves. The latest display of disunity comes from the elected Advisory Committee to the Canadian Wheat Board. Six of the committee’s 11 members issued a call for the federal government to withdraw its bill that would change the way the board operates. […] Read more

In about six weeks, in the middle of a dark December night, with temperatures more than 10 degrees below zero, squads of farm workers will move quickly among the grapevines of southern Ontario. Their mission will be to pick well-frozen grapes before the morning thaw, grapes that can be used to produce the sweet “ice […] Read more

October, at least so far, has not been an encouraging month for the hog industry, particularly in Saskatchewan. The province’s hog marketing system is under scrutiny because of a controversial plan to split hog allocation between two packing plants. The provincial government is threatening to end single-desk marketing. And a Saskatchewan court found that large […] Read more

Reform MP Leon Benoit issued a useful reminder last week for farmers and ranchers: the federal government’s proposed endangered-species legislation is still a looming threat. Under a bill introduced in the last parliament, but not passed before the election was called, land owners would have been subject to harsh penalties if any of their activities […] Read more