Even more than most other kinds of farmers, prairie grain growers have been strong supporters of organizations. The first farmers' organizations emerged in the 1870s when the Patrons of Husbandry (or Grange) appeared. In the 1880s other farm organizations developed in southern Manitoba and along the North Saskatchewan River. In the 1890s the Patrons of Industry were organized, followed by the Grain Growers Associations, the Society of Equity and the United Farmers of Alberta. In the 1920s the wheat pools and the United Farmers of Canada emerged. Subsequently Federations of Agriculture were formed. All of these organizations had a variety of purposes. A few were interested in politics but their dominant concerns were improving the position of the wheat economy, explaining rural problems to governments and the public, improving the quality of grains, enhancing rural life generally and furthering educational opportunities.
This photograph illustrates the kind of grievances which led farmers to organize. The season of 1901 produced an unexpectedly plentiful crop and when the farmers brought their grain to the elevators for shipment by rail they found that the railway had not allocated enough boxcars to handle the harvest. The photograph shows the result at Wolsley, Saskatchewan wagon and sleigh loads of grain left sitting in the freight yards and farmers fuming impatiently at the shortsightedness of the railway. This incident led directly to the formation of the Territorial Grain Growers' Association which attempted to force the railway to provide sufficient cars.
Most of the farm organizations were actually a series of groups including a main body for men and separate ones for women and children. Most were organized into locals and most held an annual meeting in the winter. The meetings were highlights of the year for many farmers and their families. Large hotels in Winnipeg, Saskatoon or Calgary would be taken over by farmers for a week and long discussions would be held on a wide range of issues. In addition, the farm organizations often sponsored, directly or indirectly, a wide variety of journals, some of which, like The Country Guide and The Western Producer, still flourish.
