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Page 282 text:
“
rom the early days of the Province, or rather from the period when wheat became an important export crop in Manitoba, and Manitoba Wheatf' took its preferred place on world mar- kets, the farmers who grew the wheat felt that they should have something to say as to how their grain should be handled and marketed. A steadily increasing percentage of producers began to realize that marketing of Farm products was just as properly the farmers' business as producing the crop. This view aroused strong opposition from other interests which held that the farmers should confine themselves to producing and let others handle and market their grain. For nearlv fifty years the controversy has continued, and while the grain growers have had setbacks and reverses they have never lost sight of their goal, and have made substantial pro- gress, towards their objective: complete control of the handling and mar- keting of their crops by the producers. The first outstanding victory won by the farmers was in the House of Commons, when the Manitoba Grain Act, now the Canada Grain Act, was enacted in 1901. In quick succession came the organization of the Terri- torial Grain Growers' Association, the smashing of the railway and ele- vator monopoly in the famous Sintaluta case, the formation of the Grain Growers' Grain Company, the establishment of the Saskatchewan and Alberta Co-Operative Elevator Companies. The World War of 1914-18 and the present War have temporarily infer- rupted the forward march of the farmers. During the first World War there was a spectacular increase in world wheat acreage in all the prin- cipal wheat exporting countries to offset a sharp decline in wheat acreage and yield in European importing countries. The increase in world wheat acreage stimulated by the war continued during the decade that it took European farmers to get back to pre-war wheat production, but world trade in wheat rose to record figures while European Agriculture was struggling to its feet after the disorganization caused by the war. Wheat prices in Canada declined sharply after the first Canadian Wheat Board of 1918-19 suspended operations, and after the failure by producers to have the Wheat Board re-established, the prairie farmers organized the three Western Wheat Poolsg the Alberta Wheat Pool start- ing operations in 1923 and the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Pools in 1924. the three organizations joining together in a central body, Canadian Co- Operative Wheat Producers Limited, which marketed all the grain deliv- ered to the Provincial Pools. For six years the prairie wheat Pools marketed more than half the wheat delivered by producers. The tremendous stock market crash in 1929 affected wheat prices as it did that of all other world commodities, and world wheat trade declined more than three hundred million bushels for the crop year 1929-30. The initial price of 31.00 per bushel, set by the Central Selling Agency of the Pools on July 11th, 1929, when the Winnipeg cash price was 351.44 per bushel resulted in an overpayment to Pool mem-- bers of over twenty-two million dollars. This overpayment, borrowed from the Canadian banks, was guaranteed by the prairie governments and 82
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Page 283 text:
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is being paid back in full by the three Pool organizations, principal and interest, over a twenty-year period. As the overpayment in Manitoba was in excess of the total value of the Pool assets, the Manitoba Government agreed to accept a sum smaller than the overpayment. All obligations to the Manitoba Government have been promptly met and earnings of Mani- toba Pool Elevators have steadily increased year by year. When the Wheat Pools were organized, they owned no elevator facili- ties of any kind, but they were not long in operation before they found it necessary to own and operate elevators. The three Pool organizations now own and operate the largest and most efficient grain handling facili- ties, country and terminal, in the world, and form by far the largest pro- ducers' co-operative enterprise in existence. Manitoba Pool Elevators alone own 198 country elevators, with total capacity of 7,501,000 bushels, and three terminals with total capacity of 4,500,000 bushels. The rise of economic nationalism in Europe, the measures taken by European countries to protect their own producers from cheap wheat dumped by overseas exporting countries, and increased yields in import- ing countries due to improved methods of cultivation and greater use of fertilizers, have all contributed to the troubles of the wheat producers of Canada. Even with a long succession of crop failures due to an unprece- dented drought, wheat surpluses have continued burdensome, and prices unprofitable. When the Wheat Pools had to step out of the export market, except on a small scale in 1931, the Federal Government had to step into the grain business, first, with the stabilization operations carried on by John I. McFarland through the Central Selling Agency, and later on by the establishment of the Canada Wheat Board. But while these emergency measures had to be taken by the National Government because no farm- ers' co-operative organization could carry the load of large surpluses for which no markets were available, there are many ways in which the Wheat Pool Organizations are giving service of the utmost value to their members and the whole prairie agricultural industry. The encouragement of high quality cereal crop production has been a policy for which time and money has been devoted by the three Pool organizations, the Manitoba Pool starting this work in 1928. Junior Seed Growers' Clubs are given financial and supervising assistance. A barley variety testing project, and a barley feeding program have been of great value in the production of superior types of barley. In the rural educational field, the free library service maintained by Manitoba Pool Elevators deserves special mention. The study clubs en- couraged and assisted by Manitoba Pool Elevators have stimulated the interest of many thousands of the rural young people of Manitoba in a wide range of subjects, particularly in the progress of the co-operative movement, and the building up of a co-operative community spirit. Pool members and officials are devoting time and thought to the framing of an agricultural policy for the trying days of readjustment that will come after the war is won, so that our basic industry of agriculture can be preserved to make even greater contributions in the days ahead to the economic and social life of the nation than it has in the past. 83
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