The Grain Growers Associations 1905-17

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The Grain Growers Associations1905-17

• Elevator capacity and services were a problem
  throughout this period
• A plan was proposed by the Manitoba Grain Growers
  Association
• The proposal was known as the Partridge Plan

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Partridge Plan

• Government ownership of Canadian grain elevators
• Specifically
• National government to take over and operate
  terminal elevators and transfer elevators
• Provincial government to take over line elevators

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Reluctance

• Manitoba Government was reluctant to follow the
  Partridge Plan
• Instead made promises to carry out more rigid
  methods of inspection and supervision

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Reluctance - reasons

• Manitoba Government was reluctant to a number of
  reasons
• Poor performance of local/municipal elevators
• Did not want to interfere with the grain markets

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Manitoba Timeline

• 1909
• Farmers asked the Manitoba government for a
  system of elevator
• Government stopped opposing the idea and decided
  to build a system of elevators

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Manitoba Timeline

• 1910
• January - MGGA submits plans to government
• Legislation ignored these plans
• No organized system was conceived
• 174 elevators built
• This venture fail due to poor elevator locations
  and poor management

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Manitoba Timeline

• 1912
• GGGC contracted to lease the 174 elevators

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Alberta Saskatchewan

• Farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan were also
  seeking government owned elevators

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Saskatchewan Timeline

• 1909
• petition by Saskatchewan farmers for government
  owned elevators
• 1910
• May commission was set up to study proposals on
  elevator ownership
• November report completed

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Saskatchewan Timeline

• 1910
• Report determined financial failures of farmer
  owned elevators were
• Losses from over grading
• Bad management
• Lack of patronage
• Failure to compete with other elevators

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Saskatchewan Timeline

• 1910
• As a result of the report Saskatchewan government
  rejected the Manitoba scheme
• The Saskatchewan government suggested farmers for
  a co-op company with maximum amount of local
  control

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Saskatchewan Timeline

• 1911
• Saskatchewan premier introduced the elevator bill
  which permitted the cooperative
• This began on of the biggest debates in the
  history of the Saskatchewan Legislature
• March the Elevator Bill passed
• The Saskatchewan Co-op Elevator Company Ltd. was
  created

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The Saskatchewan Co-op

• Saskatchewan Co-op Elevator Company Ltd.
• Shares only sold to farmers for 50/share
• Many locals were established
• Organization took place on July 6
• The company soon prospered

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Alberta

• UFA accepted a similar proposal
• Alberta Co-op Elevator was formed in 1913
• Operated for 4 years
• Amalgamated with GGGC in 1917 to form United
  Grain Growers Limited

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1917

• UGG and Saskatchewan Co-op
• Subscribed capital of 2.8 million
• Assets of 6 million
• Owned approx. 300 elevators
• Handled nearly 30 million bushels

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Terminal Elevators

• Dominion government refused to build terminals

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The Livestock Industry

• In the late 1800s, factors made ranching more
  favorable prior to this period.
• The US permitted access to their markets.
• A transition away from wheat farming in upper
  Canada due to loss in soil fertility, pests and
  disease.
• Farm prosperity permitted the importation of good
  breeding stock.

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Cattle Expansion

• Trade with Britain first aroused interest in the
  cattle trade therefore, this interest leads to
  the expansion and development of the range-cattle
  industry in the Alberta foothills and on the
  plain

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Cattle Expansion

• Encouragement of this development required
• Establishment of then North West Mounted Police
• The provision of grazing leases
• Maintenance of border quarantine control
• Government importation of breeding stock

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Cattle Imports

• Britain became the leading importer of Canadian
  cattle. Since imports began to depress cattle
  prices and weaken the cattle market in Britain,
  the Richmond Bill was introduced in 1887

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The Richmond Bill

• . The purpose was to exclude live cattle from
  countries where specified diseases existed and to
  require all foreign cattle to be slaughtered at
  the port of debarkation.

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Cattle Inspection

• Canada successfully lobbied to exempt (at least
  until 1892) and instituted an effective
  quarantine system with outbound, as well as,
  inbound inspection.

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Cattle Inspection

• From that, set the standards for present day
  quarantines and import restrictions. With those
  standards in place, the Canadian cattle industry
  was able to grow unabated by the British trade
  restrictions.

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Range Industry

• The range-cattle industry develop itself in
  Alberta foothills
• Range-cattle industry swept northward out of
  Texas to cover larger portions of the central
  American plains.
• Texas Longhorns werent as dominant as before due
  to the important breeds being introduced from
  England which were Herefords and Polled Angus

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Range Industry

• 1870-71 horses and cattle entered Canada but
  the initial introduction was premature. Certain
  elements need to be in place before it would be
  successful in the Canadian Foothills
• Law and order
• Elimination of the buffalo
• Limitations of Native American claims

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Range Industry

• Grazing leases were offered by the Dominion Land
  Act of 1872 to bona fide settlers only.
• Technical problems arose

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Foothills Climate

• Canadian Foothills had climatic and topographic
  features that were favorable to ranching.
• Chinook
• Semi-arid regions
• High nutritious short grass vegetation
• Numerous coulees and streams

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• This region were enticing to ranch as a result ,
  settlement occurred in Fort Macleod and Fort
  Calgary
• The fist large herd of cattle actually came from
  BC, driven from the Kootenay Lakes in August of
  1875. There cattle ranching had flourished for
  years in support of the Gold Rush camps and BC
  ranchers were looking for new markets for their
  products.

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• Interest in start up of large cattle companys
  were wanted
• Official request for grazing land in the Bow
  River Valley
• The 1881 Order in council provided for leases
  limited to 100,000 acres, set to 21 years and the
  rental fee was a mere 1 cent per acre.

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• Ranchers were permitted to graze 1 head of cattle
  per 10 acres and this stocking rate had to be
  reached within 3 years of the lease being
  granted.
• The result was the vast ranch spread of western
  Canadian history.

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1882-91 there was a dramatic increase in beef
exports to Britain causing an expansion of the
ranching frontier.
Ranching became an extremely profitable at this
time because of the abundance of land at low
rental rates.
This expansion of the frontier led to the
creation of large Cattle Companies.
The first one in Canada was known as the
Cochrane Ranch company. The company attracted
share holders with both wealth and power.
Other companies similar in design were North
West Cattle Co. now known as Bar U Winder Ranche
Co. Stewart Ranch Co. Oxely Ranch Co.
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With the creation of large cattle companies the
smaller rancher began to experience the
overcrowding of the industry -small ranchers
were being driven out as large ranchers simply
turned their herds out onto the open range, then
when they collected them they would sometimes
collect not only their own but the small ranchers
as well.
This led to the creation of the Cattle
Association Which dealt with -branding,
grazing rights -organizing round-ups -market
s -transportation and government land policy
Formed in 1882 the Pincher Creek Stock
Association stood as the first of its kind in
western Canada. It encompased a very large area
from Pincher Creek all of the way to High River.
It was an association centered out of Fort
Macleod.
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Cattle associations at first had a very well
rounded representation even from the small
ranchers but later it became an organization of
the companies.
In 1886 the Canadian North-West Territories
Stock Association grew out of the SW stock
association. -they formed -a
constitution -voting scheme based on herd
size -and also dealt with concerns over
settlers pushing them out -they also stood as a
mechanism to solve the contentious issue of
Mavricks Stood as the first association to
claim to represent the whole whole community.
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There was a growing competition with sheep
farmers in the area as cattle ranchers tried to
prevent their entry.
Sheep could compete with cattle because of
their capability to graze on the shorter grasses.
The biggest competition however stood as the
settlers entering the area. As ranchers chased
the settlers off of their leased land the
settlers revolted and even took up arms but also
sent petitions to Ottawa.
This created a political dilemma Settlement
Vs. Very profitable ranch leases
Ranchers had a political hand however, with
significant exports of live cattle, Ottawa was
reminded that the western plains 1st interest was
stock-raising not cereal production. As long
as profits off of grazing exceeded those of
farming, intruding farm population could be held
at bay.
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From 1892-96 marked a time of bitter feuds
between ranchers and settlers/farmers.
The government however backed the ranchers,
while in other parts of the nation public
pressures were mounting because the policy was
stalling settlement in the west.
Due to this pressure on Oct. 12, 1892 the
government changed its stance on protecting
leased lands. Reducing the leased numbers for
each of the ranches, however this was just
eliminating the speculative leases.
With this decrease, came an advantage to the
ranchers. They gained an extension of the
regions stock-watering reserves (areas where
settlement could not occur along springs, creeks,
and river bottoms)
This again led to more unrest and evictions, but
the department considered the south-west to be
more suited towards cattle ranching than farming.
Also helping towards this was the solidarity of
cattlemen, socially, politically, and
economically.
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After 1896 brought the end of the era of the
cattleman. This was due to the westward push put
on by the farming frontier. The major steps that
made farming and settlement impossible to stop
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1896 Liberal Government came to power. -looked
less favorably on ranching compared to farming
and settlement -this greatly reduced the
influence the ranchers had in political
circles.
As settlers and farmers moved westward and began
to produce profitable crops the ranchers lost
their argument that the land was only suitable
for grazing.
In 1897 Crows Nest Pass Statutory Freight Rates
on grain were established. This favoured grain
farming and excluded ranching. This caused an
increase in colonization.
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Large Cattle Companies began to struggle to
survive. Following the creation of Alberta and
Saskatchewan it was known the settlement issues
would never go away
Feb.1905 Frank Oliver, being opposed to
ranchers, became Minister of the Department of
the Interior. he was more inclined to the view
of the west in terms of what had come to be known
as the mixed farm
This vision was accompanied by the parallel
stereotype of the monopolistic cattle
baron. -member of a landed and reactionary
establishment standing in the way of settlement
and progress
Beginning in 1905 Oliver began to eliminate the
stock watering reserves, thus again giving a blow
to the ranchers.
The final blow came in the winter of 1906-1907.
With severe weather, cattle could not graze
outside and ranchers herds were thus decreased by
5-85. Dominion Range Commissioner estimated an
overall loss of 50 This gave ascendancy to
mixed farming and ranching never regained its
former glory.
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Wartime 1914 to 1919

• Economic policies needed to change.
• Peace time policies would not work in wartime
  despite what the Dominion government assumed.
• Because of war efforts in 1916 the price of wheat
  began to increase due to supply not meeting
  demands

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Wartime 1914 to 1919

• Liver pools futures market was closed to prevent
  the prices form rising any higher.
• The British Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies
  was appointed to acquire wheat, flour and
  eventually all cereals for England.

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Wartime 1914 to 1919

• By the next year all of Europe relied on the
  Wheat Executives of the Allies.
• This put pressure on worldwide economies.
• The Wheat Export Company (USA) and the Wheat
  Export Company of Canada purchased wheat on
  behalf of the Allies.

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Wartime 1914 to 1919

• To ensure supplies they purchased heavily on the
  futures market.
• 1916-1917 the USA crops were small and Canadas
  large crop was of poor quality.
• The quality and limited quantity of wheat was
  inadequate to meet commitments to Allied
  purchasing agencies.

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Wartime 1914 to 1919

• Problems arose including a large increase in
  price of wheat contracts.
• Dominion government terminated trading on the
  Winnipeg Exchange.
• A monopoly power over Canadian wheat was
  established to acquire wheat, fix prices (exports
  and domestic), and to resell to domestic millers
  and Allied purchasing agents.

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The Inter-War Period

• The Winnipeg Stock Exchange reopened after the
  war but was quickly closed down again.
• In 1919 the Canadian Wheat Board was formed and
  was the sole selling agent of Canadian wheat, but
  they could not fix prices.

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The Inter-War Period

• Canadian Wheat Board operations were terminated
  in 1920 price kept rising for a couple of months
  then began a steady decline.
• Trade restriction and agricultural subsidies kept
  Canada of the world market.

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The Inter-War Period

• The USA and Europe where also returning to normal
  production after the war, this also lower prices
  dramatically.
• Farmers fought to have the Canadian Wheat Board
  reinstated, but consumers and trade interests
  opposed.

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The Inter-War Period

• The government became willing to pass legislation
  if the Prairie Provinces passed concurrent
  legislation.
• Unfortunately no one qualified would head the
  Board and Manitoba failed to pas the legislation.
• The matter was then left to organization by
  separate provincial associations.

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Wheat Marketing and the Prairie Pools

• The farmer owned companies had reduce the
  dependence of producers on private agencies, and
  their competition had been successful in
  improving marketing services, lessening market
  discrimination, and increasing the returns to the
  growers.

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Cooperation

• The companies worked so close together with the
  dominion government, they named the UGG
  president, minister of agriculture.

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Some problems arose from the companies

• Grain growers companies took some farmer
  supporters for granted
• Farmers delivered grain to where the immediate
  advantage was
• Co-op companies picked up farmers business to
  easily and didnt always have the farmers best
  interest in mind
• Were not able to distribute dividend payments
  equally
• Companies had done nothing to solidify prices
  after the war

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Prairie Pools

• In spite of the criticisms, the view held buy
  many farm leaders was that farmer owned companies
  had been successful and similar success might be
  achieved by other companies designed to act like
  the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), only on a smaller
  scale. This thinking led to the formation of the
  Prairie Pools

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Alberta Co-operative Wheat Producers LTD

• Alberta Wheat Pool
• Formed in 1923
• Offered voluntary contract pool (5yr) for the
  last of 1923 crop
• Advance or initial payment was set at .75cents
• Sales averaged out around 1.01 / bu.

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Saskatchewan Co-operatives Wheat Producers LTD

• Formed in 1923
• Formed too late in 23 to sell any crop
• Offered voluntary contract pooling
• Included coarse grains as well as wheat

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Manitoba Co-operative Wheat Producers LTD

• Manitoba Wheat Pool
• Formed in 1923-1924
• Offered voluntary contract pooling for wheat and
  coarse grains

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Central

• Formed in 1924
• The Canadian Co-operative Wheat Producers LTD was
  a central sales agency for the three pools
• Sought opportunities for direct selling
• Since 1930 the Wheat Pools have never engaged in
  pooling again

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The Mergers

• 1926 Sask Pool elevators merged with the older
  Sask co-op elevator co. in a large expansion.
  They became and still known as Saskatchewan Wheat
  Pool. (I like to call them now days the sinking
  ship)
• Manitoba and Alberta Pool elevators incorporated
  an began to acquire elevators
• The three pools collectively offered to buy the
  UGG, UGG voted against the sale since it would
  have forced all its farmers to participate in
  pooling

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Prairie Pools Resulted in

• Handled 50 of the grain handled in Western
  Canada
• Success short lived
• 1929 open market price was about 1.50 / bu and
  the Pools announced a initial payment of 1.00

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Prairie Pools Resulted in

• Well known crash of 1929 sent prices plummeting,
  by Dec. 30 prices were 50 cents on the open
  market
• The pools over paid about 22 million, over
  payments were a severe blow
• Federal and Provincial governments backed the
  Pools, a debt that was repaid over 18 years.

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