Declining sales and accumulated debt forced the sale of the combine division and closure of the plant
In this final instalment of our four-part series on the Massey Ferguson combine plant in Brantford, Ont., the story wraps up with a look at the plant’s final days and what was left unfinished as the company abandoned combine manufacturing in the 1980s. As the 1980s began, the evolution toward fewer, larger farms had taken […] Read moreTag Archives WP100
Look back at the Dec. 15, 1955 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. Regular readers of this column might remember Joe Phelps from last week, when the Saskatchewan Farmers Union president got into a verbal dust-up with one of his retiring […] Read more
Look back at the Dec. 10, 1953 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. A fight broke out in the Dec. 10, 1953, issue. Actually, the donnybrook took place at the Saskatchewan Farmers Union annual meeting but eventually made its way into […] Read more
New developments make food preparation easier
With the end of the Second World War, the rationing of foods, building materials and consumer goods lessened. Farming incomes improved and families on the Prairies began to rebuild their lives. As metals were no longer needed for the war effort, farm equipment, vehicles, pots and pans, and appliances began to come onto the market. […] Read more
Look back at the Nov. 29, 1951, 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. I have been waiting for two things ever since I began making my way through back issues of The Western Producer, and they both happened in the Nov. […] Read more
Post-war years were a time of transition, hope, renewal
Through the years of depression, drought and war, governments had few funds to upgrade health care, infrastructure and highways. In 1945, outside of the major cities, hospitals and ambulance services were primitive, electrical power was limited and highways and country roads were often closed by blizzards, rain or the spring thaw. Rural homes had received […] 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
Look back at the Nov. 13, 1947, 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. This summer we published a story written by freelancer Becky Zimmer about efforts to control leafy spurge in a Saskatchewan pasture using leafy spurge beetles. It’s not the […] Read more
Three films capture the magic of prairie grain elevators
Wooden grain elevators have been gone for such a long time from most of the Prairies that people may not remember something that now seems pretty obvious about the massive, iconic structures. They didn’t travel much. Related stories on this issue: Wheat Country film highlights the prairie gamble Wooden elevators an endangered species Town’s last […] Read more
Brantford plant supported harvest brigade
This is the second instalment in our series on the history of Massey’s Ferguson’s combine assembly plant in Brantford, Ont., as part of the WP100 Series. “The five years 1971-1975 saw unprecedented growth in the farm machinery industry. For Massey-Ferguson, demand in most markets exceeded production capacity in three of the five years.” Those encouraging […] Read more
