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Saskatchewan

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Eager to control the price of wheat, 46,000 farmers joined together in 1923-4 to set up the Saskatchewan Co-operative Wheat Producers, a "wheat pool" that bought the wheat and held it in elevators for the best price. The pool collapsed financially in 1931 and the federal government had to cover the losses; the coop cntinued as a network of elevators owned by the farmers. It advanced the reform agenda for agricultural development, with full-time district representatives, or fieldmen, who promoted education, demonstrations of farm equipment, community picnics and rallies, and cooperative insurance, among other programs. It continues in operation as Viterra, having taken over Agricore United (based in Manitoba) in 2007. With soaring wheat prices, Viterra's revenues in the first quarter (three months) of 2008 reached $1.3 billion, triple the total the year before.<ref>Ian Macpherson, "Missionaries of Rural Development: the Fieldmen of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, 1925-1965." ''Agricultural History'' 1986 60(2): 73-96. Issn: 0002-1482; [http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_wheat_pool.html ''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan'']</ref>
 
[[Image:Grain-elevator.jpg|thumb|300px|federal grain elevator in Saskatoon, 1920]]
The Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association worked with the provincial Liberals and kept them in office until 1929, when a Conservative-led coalition was elected for a term. As wheat prices recovered the late 1920s were golden years. By 1927 Saskatchewan ranked first among the provinces in the production of wheat, oats, rye, and flax, and in sundry other areas. Most important, it ranked first in per capita wealth. With a population of 922,000 in 1931 ranked third in size, behind only Ontario and Quebec.
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