University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Research
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

      Repurposing the Great Grain Robbery in Canada

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      LARSEN-THESIS.pdf (979.5Kb)
      Date
      2012-09-24
      Author
      Larsen, Laura
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      Abstract
      The "Great Grain Robbery" was a term applied to describe the 1972 Soviet-American grain sales when the Soviets bought large quantities of U.S. grain at low prices. Due to their high demand being hidden by the requirements for secrecy in the sale, market prices did not increase to match the increased Soviet demand. As a result many American farmers concluded they missed out on the true value of their grain. Canadian farmers, however, sold their grain through the single-desk Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) which used pooling. They consequently benefitted from the Soviet purchases and did well from the increased Soviet demand. The "Great Grain Robbery" term was resurrected in the 1990s during the highly polarized debate over the value and continued relevance of the single-desk Canadian Wheat Board. It was also repurposed so that it no longer meant the 1972 Soviet-American grain sales. Instead, the "Great Grain Robbery" became a code-term that encompassed all the perceived problems with the Canadian Wheat Board. It became the main focus of the western Canadian agricultural community in the debate over agricultural policies, in particular "marketing freedom" by those opposed to the CWB.
      Degree
      Master of Arts (M.A.)
      Department
      History
      Program
      History
      Supervisor
      Waiser, William A.
      Committee
      Cunfer, Geoff; Zellar, Gary
      Copyright Date
      August 2012
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2012-08-629
      Subject
      western Canadian history
      Agriculture
      Canadian Wheat Board
      farming
      farm politics
      Alberta
      Saskatchewan
      Manitoba
      Great Grain Robbery
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy