This ad in our July 2, 1987 issue was for Grassroots, an online agricultural information system based on the Canadian Communications Research Centre Telidon system. While it featured a great deal of information, it was difficult to access due to slow download speeds over phone lines, and the system was expensive. This ad offered the last chance to subscribe at $9 per hour ($16.70 in 2015 dollars) before a rate increase to $19.
Farmers at the time may not have been keen on the extra expense. Our lead story was that an alliance of farm groups meeting in Saskatoon had called for $2.6 billion in assistance to carry them through the next year. The U.S.-EU price war was near its height, and we reported that the $1.5 billion in funds allocated to the U.S. Export Enhancement Program (EEP) was being rapidly diminished. The program gave U.S. exporters bonus stocks from government reserves.
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Explaining severe summer weather: Hail
Hail is a common and potentially dangerous form of precipitation which is commonly seen during thunderstorms on the Canadian Prairies. But how does it happen?
After an excellent start to the crop, yields were now expected to be average at best due to a recent heat wave. Severe hail was reported the previous week, notably at The Pas where 10,000 acres were affected, and where 85 to 90 mm of rain had fallen in three hours.
We reported that the province’s 90 potato growers and the provincial government opposed a proposal for a national potato-marketing board. Nestlé, part owner of the Carnation processing plant at Carberry, said a planned $38-million expansion was on hold and might not be completed if supply management was introduced.
