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History of the United Grain Growers
At the turn of the previous century,
motivated progressive farmers started a “grain grower’s movement” to
improve the rights and marketing power of producers. Then, as now, farmers
were plagued with problems concerning grain transportation and marketing
of crops. Railcar distribution was a major concern. The railways were
favoring private elevators over farmer loading facilities when spotting
railcars. At the time most of the elevators were owned by three private
companies and there were few regulations in place. Farmers pushed for and
received a system of regulations known as the Manitoba Grain Act. This
became the predecessor of the Canada Grain Act. The Manitoba Grain Act
helped initially but failed to address the grievances that farmers faced
as time went on. To correct this situation, in January of 1902, producers
formed the Territorial Grain
Growers Association. At its helm was a farmer from the Qu’Appelle
Valley Region named W.R. Motherwell, later to become Minister of
Agriculture for Saskatchewan and then for Canada. The Territorial Grain
Growers Association helped pass sweeping amendments to the Manitoba Grain
Act that gave farmers a greater voice in agricultural affairs.
From the Territorial Grain Growers
emerged provincial associations that better addressed local issues. In
1903 the Manitoba Grain Growers Association was formed and a few years
later, further west, a movement called the United Farmers of Alberta
emerged. In the beginning these farmer run associations were non-political
and non-trading.
 In 1906 a group of farmers, led by E.A.
Partridge of Sintaluta, Saskatchewan, decided to form their own grain
marketing organization. The members believed that to gain more clout and
to better protect & influence the trading of their commodities, they
needed a seat on the Grain Exchange. After many trials and tribulations
their dedication paid off and the Grain
Growers Grain Company Ltd was born.
After only one year of operation the
Grain Growers Grain Company Ltd had 1853 shareholders and handled 2.3
million bushels of grain. As time went on the Company realized that
without owning and operating elevators, it was at a real disadvantage to
the private elevator companies. Their own company had nothing to do with
elevators, except that it offered farmers a different way of selling their
grain. Trade was carried on with those who shipped direct in cars from a
flat warehouse or loading platform. Elevators owned by private companies
were becoming more and more popular. The private elevator companies were
subsidizing their country elevators with profits made from the terminal
elevators, thus allowing lower handling costs. While farmers agreed with
the principal of the co-operative system, they were drawn to the lower
costs and advantages that the elevators offered. To offset this deficiency, the Grain Growers Grain Company
made a deal with the province of Manitoba to lease its’ failing
government owned elevator system and thus began its journey into the grain
handling business. By the 1913 crop year they operated 137 elevators,
handled 13 million bushels of grain and had a membership of 13,156
shareholders.
The United Farmers of Alberta was
organized in 1909. At its 1910 convention the UFA appointed an Elevator
Committee, headed by its president, James Bower. On his death in 1912 he
was succeeded in both capacities by W.J. Tregillus, under whose guidance
the Alberta
Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company Ltd was
formed in 1913. In its initial year the Alberta Farmers Co-operative
Elevator Company also set up a farm supply department. This business
flourished. Soon coal sheds and warehouses outnumbered the elevators. In
the four years that they operated the elevator company accumulated 103
elevators, 122 coal sheds and 145 warehouses in Alberta. While other
associations and elevator companies were backed by their provincial
governments, the Alberta Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company was not.
From the beginning it was the  Grain Growers Grain Company Ltd that
supported them and guaranteed their credit with the banks. It came then as
no surprise when in 1917, the Grain Growers Grain Company and the Alberta
Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company Ltd amalgamated to form the United
Grain Growers Ltd.
The newly created UGG started out well
equipped to serve western farmers. At the time of amalgamation, they were
operating 332 elevators. They supplied farm machinery and other farm
services and products such a flour, feed, twine, coal, salt and barbed
wire.
 They also had, in addition to their
country facilities, large warehouses in Winnipeg, Calgary and Regina. At
the Lakehead they operated a 2.5 million bushel terminal under lease from
the CPR at Fort William and owned a 600,000 bushel “hospital elevator”
in Port Arthur. In BC, they also owned a 30,000 bushel elevator at
Westminister.
The company inherited from the Grain
Growers Grain Company, a lucrative export business and a newly built,
company owned, printing plant in Winnipeg from which it continued to
publish the Grain Growers Grain Guide which later became the Country
Guide.
By 1925, Alberta grain began to move
in considerable quantities to the ice-free ports of British Columbia. This
motivated the Company to purchase a controlling interest in the Burrard
Elevator Company, which operated a terminal under lease to the Vancouver
Harbour Board. Five years later they bought out the minority shareholders.
In 1932 the UGG increased its capacity and modernized the machinery. The
terminal was acquired outright in 1966. Since that date, the terminal has
been upgraded several times.
In 1927 the UGG built, at Port Arthur,
“Terminal A”, the then most modern and efficient terminal on the
continent. Capacity was 5.5 million bushels and was later enlarged to hold
8.2 million. In
1959 the Terminal “A” annex collapsed into Lake Superior. This would
have drove the UGG into bankruptcy had they not had the foresight to
purchase Business Interruption Insurance. The company rented warehouses in
several locations including a large railway roundhouse in Winnipeg to
store grain until the mess could be cleaned up and a new annex
constructed.
 As of August 31st 1929,
United Grain Growers owned 463 elevators, 231 flour houses, 289 coal and
supply sheds, 47 annexes & 120 cottages for agents and families.
After amalgamation the UGG set up
several wholly owned subsidiary companies. The UGG
Sawmills Ltd was formed to supply the need for thousands of houses and
barns that were replacing the old pioneer structures. When the post war
depression hit the lumber industry slumped and in 1926 the UGG Sawmills
Ltd was closed out.
The United
Livestock Growers Ltd evolved from the livestock departments already
established by the Alberta Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company and the
Grain Growers Grain Company. It became the largest non-profit livestock
marketing agency in the country with cattle and hogs as its mainstay.
Despite its success, the subsidiary was terminated in 1928 to make room
for a movement in all three Prairie Provinces to organize the marketing of
livestock on a contract basis.
Another subsidiary of the United Grain
Growers was the UGG Securities
Company Ltd. This company started out as a land agency and a service
to farmers in handling estates & advising on investments. It later
branched out into insurance.
For a number of years terminal
operations for the UGG were conducted by a subsidiary company, United
Grain Growers Terminals Ltd. In 1951 for technical reasons, the
directors decided to consolidate the terminal business with the operations
of the parent company. It was also decided that the publishing business,
previously operated under the subsidiary, The Country Guide Ltd, should be
carried on as a department of The Public Press Ltd. The Public
Press published farm magazines and did commercial printing. It produced
the Country Guide, Hog Guide, Dairy Guide, Crops Guide, Corn-Soy Guide and
the Cattlemen Magazine. Grainews was started in 1975 as a grain marketing,
technical and rural affairs paper. Farmers enjoyed a unique ability to
interact with the paper and share their thoughts and ideas.
 The nineteen forties through the
sixties became a period of expansion for the UGG. In 1943 they acquired
the physical assets of the Gillespie
Grain Company. For $512,000 dollars the UGG acquired 68
country elevators, many with annexes; the lease of a million bushel
terminal at Victoria BC; and a combined country elevator, small
terminal & feed plant at Edmonton AB. UGG continued to grow and in 1948 they purchased 110
elevators from the Reliance Grain Company Ltd. In the same year they acquired 5
elevators from the Anderson
Elevator Company.
Nineteen fifty-four saw renewed
expansion with 65 elevators purchased from the Midland & Pacific Grain Corporation
Ltd and it continued in 1959 when 129 country elevators from the Canadian
Consolidated Grain Company Ltd changed their names to
UGG. Along with
these country elevators came a 1.5 million bushel terminal that went out
of service in 1970.
The UGG purchased, in the summer of
1961, the assets of the
Canada West Grain Company. With this purchase came five country elevators.
To round out three decades
of expansion, in 1969, the United Grain Growers acquired the McCabe
Grain Company which added a terminal at Thunder Bay and
country elevators at 72 points across the prairies.
In January of 1979, a consortium of
the United Grain Growers and five other grain companies was formed to
incorporate the Prince
Rupert Grain Ltd. The principal objective was to build a high-capacity grain terminal at
Prince Rupert, and at the 
same time, to acquire and operate the existing
government terminal at that port. UGG would own an interest of 15% in this
company. In July 1979, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the
government of Canada and the company. It provided for the building of a
new grain terminal at Prince Rupert and the transfer of the existing
terminal elevator to Prince Rupert Grain Ltd. In July 1982, the members of
the consortium agreed to proceed with the construction of a new terminal
on Ridley Island. The Province of Alberta agreed to finance 80% of the
project through the issue of first series bonds and debentures.
Construction on the new terminal started in 1982 and opened for business
on May 16th 1985.
 In addition to their partnership in
Prince Rupert Grain Ltd, as of 1985, the United Grain Growers operated
three terminal elevators, two at Thunder Bay and one at Vancouver. They
operated country elevators at 71 points in Manitoba, 133 in Saskatchewan
and 141 in Alberta & BC.
The nineteen nineties held many
challenges for farmers and grain elevator companies. In 1997 agri-food
giant Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) purchased 45% of the United Grain
Growers following a hostile takeover attempt by Manitoba and Alberta Wheat
Pools on the UGG.
The United Grain Growers were the
first farmer owned and farmer managed cooperative grain handling
organization in Western Canada but their future was destined to change
drastically with the turn of the century. In
November 2001, UGG bought out Agricore and began operating under the trade
name of Agricore United. ADM’s shares in the new Agricore
United corporation were reduced to 19%. By 2004 ADM shares increased to
23%. During the researching of this history there was hostile takeover bid
put forward by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as well as a friendly offer
from James Richardson International. In the end the bidding war was won by
the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Sask
Pool and Agricore United merged on June 15, 2007 and a new corporation
called Viterra was born on August 30, 2007. Only
time will tell if this was the right decision for the future of our grain
industry.
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