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.
Tony Tweed, a baking technologist with the Canadian International Grains Institute, demonstrated Japanese noodle-making to Canadian grain inspectors in this undated photo. The inspectors attended a course to learn how Canadian grain was used internationally and how grading factors affected the final product. | File photo
Read Also
Canada’s plant hardiness zones receive update
The latest update to Canada’s plant hardiness zones and plant hardiness maps was released this summer.
75 years ago: Feb. 12, 1942
The Western Producer got a little poetic as it described the stay of Saskatchewan delegates at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier while they were in the capital to deliver a petition demanding a better deal for prairie farmers. “Dirt farmers from the Prairies rubbed elbows with the diplomats of foreign powers and sat in the same arm chairs in which Ottawa’s social 400 sit for afternoon tea,” the paper wrote.
Dominion Agriculture Minister J.G. Gardiner hinted that the initial price for wheat for 1942-43 would be raised above 70 cents and that the delivery quota would be increased to 300 million bushels. He also said the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration would likely continue operations for at least another year.
50 years ago: Feb.16, 1967
E.K. Turner, first vice-president of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, told a House of Commons agriculture committee hearing in Regina that the pool could live with a 40 cent per bu. increase in the international wheat price.
The federal government’s new transport bill became law after three years of drafting, revising and debate. The legislation allowed railways to adjust rates, abandon uneconomic branch lines and discontinue money-losing passenger service. However, it also included minimum safeguards to prevent excessive charges and the use of subsidies to preserve services deemed necessary to the public interest.
25 years ago: Feb. 13, 1992
Hundreds of protesting dairy farmers took to the streets of Ottawa to insist that the federal government not sign a world trade deal if it undermined supply management. Farmers were losing their cool over delays in receiving money through the Net Income Stabilization Account program. “Nobody I know of has gotten a cheque,” said Don Ferguson of Three Hills, Alta. “We were told it would be a two-week turnaround time. Now when I phone them they say it could be 10 to 12 weeks. It’s a little bit ridiculous.”
10 years ago: Feb. 15, 2007
A nightmarish grain shipping season got worse Feb. 10 when Canadian National Railway workers walked off the job. The delivery of grain cars to the West Coast had already been delayed by a tough winter and sluggish movement.
Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said he would use World Trade Organization rules to create a new protective tariff to control imports of milk protein concentrates.
The move was called unprecedented.
