First published in 1957, this study traces the development of the national policy as it affected the growth of the Canadian trade and discusses the grain marketing problems of Western Canada in the decades that followed, with detailed attention to legislation and moves by various growers' groups in an attempt to meet these problems. This important study in political economy is organized into four main parts. In Part One the author traces the development of the national policy and its impact on the growth of the wheat empire in the years before 1900. In Part Two, he discusses the grain marketing problems of western Canada during the 1900-1920 period. Part Three is a masterful exposé of the history of the open market system and of the history and policies of the Canadian Wheat Pools, and Part Four examines the economic philosophy behind the development of the national policy.

This collection of 35 readings on Canadian prairie history includes overview interpretation and current research on topics such as the fur trade, native peoples, ethnic groups, status of women, urban and rural society, the Great Depression and literature and art.

The breathtaking number of mergers and joint ventures among agribusiness firms has left independent American farmers facing the power of an increasingly concentrated buying sector. The origin of farmers' concern with such economic concentration dates back to protests against meatpackers and railroads in the late nineteenth century. Jon Lauck examines the dimensions of this problem in the American Midwest in the decades following World War II. He analyzes the nature of competition within meat-packing and grain markets. In addition, he addresses concerns about corporate entry into production agriculture and the potential displacement of a production system defined by independent family farms. Lauck also considers the ability of farmers to organize in order to counter the market power of large-scale agribusiness buyers. He explores the use of farmer cooperatives and other mechanisms which may increase the bargaining power of farmers. The book offers the first serious historical examination of the National Farmers Organization, which fully embraced the bargaining power cause in the postwar period. Lauck finds that independent farmers' attempts at organization have been more successful than previously recognized, but he also shows that their successes have been undermined by the growing concentration and power of agri-business firms, justifying a new approach to antitrust law in agricultural markets.

Over the course of a century, the Canadian Prairies went from being the breadbasket of the world to but one of many grain-growing regions in a vast global agri-food system. Magnan traces the causes and consequences of this evolution, from the first transatlantic shipments of wheat to the controversial dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. When Wheat Was King reveals how farmers, governments, and consumers, over successive periods, responded to industrialization, international trade rules set by the US, the liberalization of global markets, and the consolidation of corporate power. The result is a fascinating look at how regional, national, and international politics have influenced agriculture and food industries in Canada, the UK, and around the world.

Growing Resistance is the remarkable story of how Canadian farmers led an international coalition to a major victory for the anti-GM movement by defeating the introduction of Monsanto's genetically modified wheat. Through interviews with producers, industry organizations, and biochemical companies, Emily Eaton demonstrates how the inclusion of producer interests was integral to the coalition's success in voicing concerns about environmental implications, international market opposition to GMOs, and the lack of transparency and democracy in Canadian biotech policy and regulation. Growing Resistance is a fascinating study of the need to balance local and global concerns in activist movements and of the powerful forces vying for control of food production.