1941: Saskatchewan

A relatively bad wheat crop in 1941 after two good years meant a serious loss in income for Saskatchewan's farmers. Since the province is almost wholly agricultural, the blow was a severe one. Unlike most of Canada, Saskatchewan has so far enjoyed little, if any, wartime prosperity. And it is probable that as a result of the war the province will have to carry a major share of the relief load previously assumed by the Dominion Government. This may be heavy as large areas of the province suffered a complete crop failure.

The 1941 wheat crop of 140,000,000 bushels was only a little more than half the record 272,000,000 bushel crop of 1940. The decline may be attributed chiefly to a mid-summer drought and insect damage although there was also considerable curtailment in acreage in response to the Dominion Government's wheat acreage reduction bonus of $4 an acre. In the effort to gain a better price for the wheat that was produced, a delegation representing the wheat pools of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta visited Ottawa early in August to press for a change in wheat policy. This request was rejected by Mr. Gardiner, Dominion Minister of Agriculture. Instead of the $1 a bushel requested by the delegation, the Dominion retained the basis of payment set up in 1940, — which was 70 cents a bushel for No. 1 Northern wheat delivered at Fort William, Ontario. But agitation for $1 wheat continued throughout the fall, led by the powerful Saskatchewan pool. Hundreds of meetings were held throughout the province urging larger benefits for the farmers. This sentiment was not confined to rural areas only. The demands were supported by city councils and various urban groups. A member of Parliament from Saskatchewan, Dr. T. F. Donnelly, declared that $25,000,000 could be saved annually if the Dominion Government cut in half the payment made to elevators for storage of the wheat surplus. As a result of tremendous pressure from the western provinces, the Dominion Government announced in November a new system of acreage bonuses for grain growers.