Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s origin story is instructive. As journalist Garry Fairbairn described in the preface to his book on the Pool’s 60th anniversary in 1983, the co-operative was founded by 45,000 farmers engaged in “individual acts of desperation, hope, and faith (that) combined to create an enduring co-operative empire and corporate democracy.” | File photo

Time might be ripe for revival of prairie co-ops

When Bunge announced its intention to purchase Viterra — the Regina-based grain handling subsidiary of Swiss mining giant Glencore — in June 2023, it represented another milestone in the slow but steady erasure of Saskatchewan’s long history with the wheat pool co-operative. Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, the once-mighty agricultural co-operative that became Viterra, is remembered by […] Read more