Telecom Nation: Telecommunications, Computers, and Governments in Canada by Laurence B. Mussio (review)

Abstract

It is possible that the decline of the FUA/U nifarm reflects that it was never the general farm organization that Jaques argues it was. In its 'glory days,' even as a general farm organization, the FUA may well have been primarily a grain producer's organization, as the peak of the FUA/Unifarm came during the period of history when wheat farming dominated Alberta's agricultural production. Jaques suggests that even as late as the 1980s the power of the grain interests in Unifarm was recognized. After 1960, many of Alberta's farmers diversified their production to include new crops such as rapeseed. As the structure of Alberta agriculture changed, the interests of the FUA/Unifarm did not necessarily change with it, particularly if non-wheat producers did not join the organization. The growth of individual commodity groups suggests that farmers saw their interests aligned along commodity lines rather than general or sectoral lines; at the very least, they viewed their interests as different enough from those of grain producers that U nifarm membership held little appeal. In the end, the fate of the FUA/Unifarm may be explained simply by the relative decline in the role of wheat production in western agriculture. J.C. HEBERT EMERY University of Calgary