WESTERN PRODUCER — There was a little bit of everything in the Jan. 8, 1959, issue, from freight rates to farm aid and from stormy holidays to sales records.
The paper reported that more than 30,000 copies of a petition had been distributed across Saskatchewan calling on the federal government to bring in a deficiency payment for wheat, oats and barley that had been delivered in the last three years.
The Railway Association of Canada filed a notice asking the Board of Transport Commissioners to set a date to hear the railways’ pending application for a general freight rate increase.
Sales at Federated Co-operatives Ltd. hit a record $54 million, while the company posted $3.152 million in savings. The story talked about how co-operatives that started with a farmer focus had been able to adapt as rural-urban populations changed and had turned into consumer co-ops.
It said there was now a consumer co-operative in every city in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and all but one were expected to report 1958 sales of more than $1 million.
A significant storm blew into Western Canada on New Year’s Day, covering all of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and most of British Columbia.
The storm had come as more of a shock than usual because temperatures that had been in the high 30s and 40s Fahrenheit Dec. 31 dropped within hours to a wind chill of minus 60 F. Blizzards were reported in many parts of the Prairies with wind gusting to 70 m.p.h.
The storm made the front page and was accompanied by a photo of utility poles sticking out of large snow drifts along a road.
The Saskatchewan Farmers Union asked the provincial government to allow its members to pay their dues with their municipal taxes rather than going through the formality of signing registration forms. Membership would still be voluntary, union officials were quick to point out.
