This ad from our January 17, 1991 issue reminds of when the Prairie Pools operated XCAN, their own domestic and export marketing company.
The front-page story that week reported that Grains Minister Charlie Mayer had announced that legislation would be passed to implement two new support programs, GRIP and NISA, for 1991-92. They were necessary — another story said that Agriculture Canada economists forecast that farm net income in 1991 would fall 23 per cent without GRIP.
The income problem was largely due to the EU-U.S. grain trade war, and speaking to the annual meeting of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, Mayer called for farmers to boycott European goods in retaliation for EU export subsidies.
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The support programs required provincial participation, and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Glenn Findlay was reportedly miffed that the federal announcement had been made without consulting the provinces. GRIP participation would tighten provincial finances, so to make room in the ag budget, Manitoba axed a $9-per-tonne livestock feed subsidy.
Herbicide resistance had been discussed by a panel at an agronomic forum in Winnipeg, with reports that resistance had been found in Manitoba to trifluralin, Hoegrass, Fusilade, Excel, Poast and Triumph Plus.
