In December 1923, wheat fell to just 99 cents per bushel, far from the late wartime and post-war price range of more than $2. After government gave up its wartime price controls, farmers (and traders) were going broke. Being Canada, the government appointed a Royal Commission to study the issue of low grain prices, and […] Read more
Tag Archives WP100
Celebrating a century of agricultural news
The Western Producer turns 100 this week, and we’re spilling a bit of ink in this issue to mark the occasion. The intention is to carry the commemoration throughout the next year, and to look ahead as well as behind. However, this issue is dedicated very much to looking at where we’ve come from and […] Read more
The Western Producer thanks farmers
This week The Western Producer turns 100. It goes without saying that this is quite a milestone and this week’s paper kicks off 52 weeks of celebrating this achievement. Each year, there are farms across the Prairies that also celebrate a centennial. And each of those family farms that have been passed down, owe much […] Read more
Look back at the Aug. 27, 1923, 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 Western Producer. There’s a small eight-page newspaper tucked away on a shelf in The Western Producer’s Saskatoon office. It doesn’t look like much at first glance, but it holds […] Read more
Road trip down memory lane puts farm history in context
As The Western Producer launches features to acknowledge 100 years of serving western Canadian farmers, it seems an appropriate time to look at some agricultural milestones. The following is not a full list, by any means, and leans heavily on items from the Producer’s own evolution, but we thought readers might enjoy reflecting on a […] Read more
Farm family focus was clear from the beginning
Newspaper marks 100 years of providing information to help improve families’ health, nutrition and financial stability
For prairie farmers, unstable and unfair grain marketing conditions had a direct effect on the health, nutrition, financial and emotional stability of their families. During the 1920s, marketing co-operatives were formed, hoping farmers would finally receive fair grading and the full market value for their grain and produce. To encourage the creation of these co-operatives […] Read more
Film aimed to provide more peaceful look at western life
A year-long collaboration between The Western Producer and the National Film Board of Canada celebrating the newspaper’s 100th anniversary was launched Aug. 24 with a pioneering film about an Alberta cowboy taming a wild horse. Corral, which was released in 1954, won an award for best documentary at the Venice Film Festival. It was directed […] Read more
VIDEO: Prairie wheat history comes to life in crop plots
Agriculture Canada grows a living museum that highlights the history of wheat development in Western Canada
LANGHAM, Sask. — Newspapers are chronicles of the history they cover in real time. If one goes far back into The Western Producer’s archives, they will find frequent references to famous names like Red Fife, Marquis and Thatcher, which were the dominant wheat varieties of their times. Those names are seldom heard nowadays, but Agriculture […] Read more
WP celebrates a big birthday next week
Next week is going to be a big one here at The Western Producer. The paper is turning 100 on Aug. 27, and the Aug. 24 issue will be our opportunity to kick off the year with a bang. The edition will begin with a story about the paper’s first 100 years by former Western […] Read more
