70 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | March 2024 In the early 1900s, Prairie farms were expanding and becoming more efficient. The result was increased grain production in the Western provinces, but farmers began to feel that they lacked power when it came to pricing their commodities. The Canadian Wheat Board was created to buy and sell wheat, and eventually oats and barley, offering Prairie producers more consistent prices and greater control in the national market. The board was in place from 1935 until 2012, but the groundwork began decades before as Western Canadian farmers sought fair treatment. Grain trade in the Prairies was initially controlled by a handful of private businesses – banks, railways, grain elevators and merchants. When large amounts of grain were harvested and marketed each fall, farmers were offered low prices in response to the demand to move the product quickly. During the First World War, the government regulated the buying and selling of grain under emergency powers, which led to increased and more stable grain prices for Prairie growers. When poor prices resumed postwar, the government created the first wheat board from 1919 to 1920. Under this model, farmers would receive an initial payment when their grain was delivered to the elevator and would receive additional payments if it sold well at the end of the year. The government felt that this arrangement was unsustainable and the program was not continued past 1920. The farmers made another attempt at creating their own marketing agency in 1923. Wheat pools were created in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, which involved a central selling agency and a payment scheme similar to that of the 1919 wheat board. Market collapse during the Great Depression led to the termination of the wheat pools. After years of unstable wheat prices, the government revived the initial wheat board program in 1935, creating the Canadian Wheat Board based in Winnipeg. For eight years, farmers could voluntarily deliver wheat to the Canadian Wheat Board to receive a guaranteed minimum price. This led to challenges in market consistency when farmers sold to the board only when prices were perceived to be lower than the board’s minimum price. In 1943, the measures implemented to support the Second World War made it compulsory for wheat to be sold through the Canadian Wheat Board. This regulation remained, and in 1949, it was expanded to include barley and oats. The wheat board ensured reasonable prices for farmers for decades by pooling grain, and the revenue was returned to farmers based on the average price for the pool. The average price covered sales across all seasons and locations, avoiding the fluctuations that were initially challenging to Prairie farmers. In 1974, the board released the right to market grain that was sold as animal feed. As oat production became more specialized, it was also removed from the Canadian Wheat Board in 1989. Throughout the 1980s, pushback against the board occurred in farming communities. Many producers who wanted to undertake their own marketing felt the board was too restrictive. For barley and wheat, the board continued to be responsible for all marketing until 2012. At this time, sales through the board became voluntary again as part of the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act. In 2015, the G3 Global Grain Group purchased a majority share of the board to continue marketing Prairie grain. While the “single desk” model of grain marketing was no longer necessary in the Prairies by the 2010s, it ensured the sustainability of grain farming in Western Canada for many years. BF RURAL ROOTS THE CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD A ‘single desk’ marketing agency allowed Prairie grain growers to remain competitive. By Emily Croft Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan created wheat pools in the 1920s as an early attempt at a central wheat marketing agency. Glenbow Library and Archives Collection
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