The Western Producer takes a weekly look at some of the stories that made headlines in issues of the paper from 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago.
75 years ago: March 21, 1940
The Saskatchewan legislature asked the federal government to increase the current wheat price of 70 cents per bushel to a figure that would give farmers a parity price.
The Manitoba legislature asked for a 10 cent per bu. increase.
A full page article by A.H.O. Colbert of the Dominion Experimental Station at Rosthern, Sask., encouraged hog producers to take advantage of the government’s litter testing service as a good first step toward identifying the best animals on which to base their herds.
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50 years ago: March 18, 1965
Branch line abandonment and transportation rationalization were to be the themes of the Sixth National Farm and Business Forum in Winnipeg.
Southern Alberta’s irrigation network got bigger with the addition of the Waterton River Dam, which was to be officially opened in spring.
Matt Ainslie was appointed chief grain inspector by the Board of Grain Commissioners. Ainslie worked for Manitoba Pool Elevators before joining the board’s inspection staff in 1938.
Carlton, a new variety of brome grass, became available. It was developed by R.P. Knowles of the Canada Agricultural Research Station in Saskatoon.
25 years ago: March 22, 1990
New legislation removed short-line railways from federal jurisdiction. It was a victory for Tom Payne, who had argued that federal labour regulations were too onerous for his Central Western Railway.
The Alberta short-line was based on Canadian National Railway’s abandoned Stettler subdivision, and federal labour rules would have forced Payne to inherit the union that represented workers when CN owned the line.
United Grain Growers said prairie farmers expect to plant wheat on 34.7 million acres in 1990, two million more than the previous year and slightly more than the record set in 1986.
Meanwhile, 6.2 million acres of canola were expected, down from 7.1 million the previous year and the lowest acreage since 1983. In comparison, farmers seeded 19.4 million acres of wheat and 20.3 million acres of canola last year.
10 years ago: March 17, 2005
The Famer Rail Car Coalition was given six weeks to negotiate a deal to buy 12,400 grain cars owned by the federal government. Ottawa’s decision was seen as a significant victory for the initiative, and coalition president Sinclair Harrison said he was optimistic.
However, the plan collapsed when the Conservatives were elected the following year.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and the Agricultural Producers Association of Sask-atchewan appeared to have patched up their differences.
APAS grew out of SARM but had been publicly feuding over funding.
However, APAS president Terry Hildebrandt had recently been invited to the SARM convention, and SARM president Neal Hardy said the two groups were better off working together.
