When a company stumbles into a successful business model, it is sometimes said to have found a licence to print money. This fanciful phrase literally came true 94 years ago in the small town of LeRoy, Sask. A recent article on the Canada’s History website, which is run by Canada’s National History Society, recently told […] Read more
Tag Archives editorial notebook
So what’s the deal about Tuesday?
I recently heard something interesting on the radio about Tuesday. That may seem like a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. Tom Allen, the host of About Time on the CBC FM network, was talking about how many people overlook this particular day of the week. Monday, he said, is known for its […] Read more
Food’s origins can sometimes be a mystery
Discussions about public perceptions toward agriculture often include worries that many consumers no longer know where their food comes from. Stories abound of urban kids being asked where milk comes from and replying, “the store.” I remember a former Western Producer staff member who didn’t want to think too deeply about how meat ended up […] Read more
Penny pinching goes to the next level
I’ve never been one of those people who are obsessed with getting a deal. If it means driving across town to save $4 on a toaster or three cents a litre on gas, I’m not interested. After all, my time is valuable and isn’t to be expended frivolously. However, after saying all that, you’ll never […] Read more
Memories of Halloween from yesteryear
Growing up on a farm meant we didn’t have the same access to the dense rows of neighbourhood candy distribution outlets (houses) as did my city friends at Halloween. But while I don’t have many vivid memories of trick or treating in those days, I do remember pillowcases full of candy, so my parents obviously […] Read more
Look back at the Jan. 12, 1961 issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The Jan. 12, 1961, issue was dominated by a war of words between farm groups and the federal government over Canadian Wheat Board regulations that would allow feed […] Read more
Look back at the Nov. 24, 1949, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The 1940s were almost over, and the Prairies were still grappling with drought. One of the headlines on the front page of the Nov. 24, 1949, issue declared, […] Read more
Whatever happened to all those seeds?
A question popped into my head earlier this summer while taking a refreshing fruit break: whatever happened to watermelon seeds? Besides possibly exposing the trivial nature of many of my thought processes, the question was also based in nostalgia. Some of my earlier memories involve using a butter knife to carefully remove as many of […] Read more
Plant rights: hopefully not coming soon
Dozens of protesters occupied a turkey barn on an Alberta Hutterite colony four years ago as part of a protest against animal agriculture. It was an example of what livestock producers have had to put up with in recent years as a small portion of the population tries to force the rest of us to […] Read more
A matter of measures
Our American neighbours often take it in the neck for their near-pathological aversion to the metric system. We in the Great White North, of course, bask in our sense of logic and reason, having adopted the metric system in 1975. Or at least we tried to; the official policy of metrification ceased in 1985. (I’ll […] Read more
