Institution (cont.)

This 1908 reorganization, coupled with pressure from producers, led the federal government to establish the Board of Grain Commissioners to regulate and certify grades and weights of grain. The Board has since pursued its mandate so effectively that Canada's grain standards have long been considered the world's standards. (19) British demand for Canadian wheat during World War I caused prairie farmers to boost production to new levels, while the Canadian government regulated prices through a temporary Wheat Board. During the 1920's, as prairie lands filled up steam engines became more common on the farms, grain production continued to increase along with Canada's reputation as a major exporting nation.

These years were the most exciting at the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. With four hundred members or more, seats on the Exchange were expensive. In the large trading room, traders gathered n the pit, placing bids through recorders located in raised pulpits. The recorders then relayed the information to be posted on giant overhead blackboards set up for various commodities. Brokers would keep in touch with clients through telegraph operators. More than sixty machines constantly clattered out messages. Twice a day, at market opening and closing, activity reached a crescendo of buying, selling and bidding, while the telegraph pounded out messages in the din.

The collapse of the global economy that followed the stock market crash of 1929 forced the price of wheat to its lowest recorded level, 34 cents a bushel. (20) Coupled with several summers of drought, farm incomes plummeted, buffered only slightly by the wheat pools that some farmers had created. Although Manitoba's farmers were more diversified in their production and faired slightly better than counterparts in Saskatchewan and Alberta, they were still hard hit. Finally, in response to farmers' demands, the national government established the Canadian Wheat Board the orderly marketing of wheat, thus eliminating the negative effects of futures speculation, and to administer a system of government-guaranteed floor prices, thereby stabilizing farm incomes.

The Wheat Board initially operated as a voluntary marketing agency. It had a seat on the Exchange where its agents collected wheat from producers' pools, co-ops and private companies, then sold the grain through a central agency. Pit trading diminished greatly as a result. More stable wheat prices benefited the producer, but vastly diminished the role of the brokers and corporate vendors. Support services, such as the railways and freighting companies, and purchasers were relatively unaffected by the move.