vintage newspaper advertisement

Requests for Ottawa to take over grain terminals

Our History: May 1909

This ad from the May 1909 The Grain Growers’ Guide offered Brandon-manufactured windmills ranging in price from $60 to $160. In 1908, the Nor-West Farmer had been purchased by the Grain Growers’ Grain Company (later United Grain Growers) and had become the official “organ” for the organization. Much of the May issue was devoted to


Agriculture Hall of Fame

Charles John Froebe was a significant force behind the development of cash advance programs

There were six Manitoban’s inducted to the Manitoba Agricultural Hall 
of Fame July 10. The Co-operator will publish the inductee profiles over the next six weeks.

Charlie Froebe was born at Carman, Man., Nov. 27, 1941. He grew up on the family farm in the Homewood district where he attended grade school and was a member of the Manitoba Sugar Beet 4-H Club. His secondary education was at St. John’s Ravenscourt in Winnipeg and Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois. He

New grains council president has deep roots in agriculture

Richard Phillips is a seed grower from Saskatchewan who has worked for several industry organizations

Richard Phillips is the new president of the Canada Grains Council. The 54-year-old has been the executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada for the past six years and is “ideally suited” for his new role, said grains council chair Chantelle Donohue. Phillips, a third-generation seed grower from Tisdale, Sask., has worked as an

Regulations, farmer voice needed in post-CWB monopoly world

Two vocal advocates for deregulating Western Canada’s wheat marketing are now suggesting farmers need a strong voice and new regulations to protect them from the open market. While free enterprise is the best economic system, it only works when transactions are voluntary and there is true competition, Paul Earl, a former lobbyist against the Canadian


OUR HISTORY: November 12, 1992

Among the stories in our Nov. 12, 1992 issue was a report on United Grain Growers delegates approving the company’s end as a co-operative and to become a public company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Manitoba Pool Elevators also held its annual meeting the previous week, and had reported profit of $10.7 million and allocation

The Brand X elevator and corporate control of the food supply

The potential for contracted acres to be linked to herbicide and fertilizer purchases as well as point of delivery was already there

When Manitoba Pool Elevators and the Alberta Wheat Pool amalgamated in 1998 to become Agricore, I joked at the local watering hole that we really needed to invent an elevator sign that was Velcro backed. Even then, it was apparent that there was a lot of work involved in rebranding trade names on very tall

Richardson International’s rise to share top grain spot

The pending multibillion-dollar sale of Viterra demonstrates the value of patient capital and private ownership, says Richardson International president Curt Vossen. Last week publicly traded Viterra, Canada’s largest grain company, announced it was selling to the world’s No. 1 diversified commodities trader, Swiss-based Glencore, for $16.1 billion. But in a move believed aimed at getting


In Brief… – for Aug. 26, 2010

Correction:To vote in Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) elections you must be a producer (actual producer or interested party) of one of the seven major grains listed in the act. That has been the case since 1998 when the election of CWB directors was introduced. What ministerial orders changed in the 2006 and 2008 CWB elections

Arborg Elevator First On The Demolition List

When pieces of Viterra’s Arborg elevator started falling on Scott Sigvaldson’s pickup April 27 he knew the contractor hired to demolish the facility wasn’t going to stop. “Not only did they not stop, they started right over top of me and kept going,” Sigvaldson said. “There was stuff flying everywhere. The excavator bumped into my