The handling of grain is a complicated business that involves a host of players. The elevator agent must keep both his client, the producer, and his company satisfied. The grain company markets oilseeds and feed grains, communicates with the producer through publications and workshops, and co-operates with Departments of Agriculture on developing better quality cereal crops. The Canadian Wheat Board, responsible for the marketing of wheat and barley, controls all grain transport.

As the grain buyer, the elevator agent was the initial link in a process that handled the grain from the producer’s truck to worldwide markets. Like the elevators, an agent was central to his community. He worked to develop a rapport with and trust of his clients. His was a way of life that moved with the seasonal rhythm of the farming community in which he lived.

The agent’s job was to buy, store and ship grain. In the past he also sold flour, coal and binder twine. Today, he stores and sells fertilizers and herbicides and advises on their application. He dispenses market advice and arranges for producer cars for customers. Maintenance of the elevator and paper work is another aspect of his daily routine. In addition, the agent now spends hours in front of a computer screen keeping up with international markets.

Did you or anyone you know deal with Western Grain Company, Ellison Milling & Elevator Company or with Home Grain Company? The number of grain companies has declined sharply over the years as amalgamations, buyouts and saw-offs (the sale or swap of elevators to mutual maximum advantage) reduced the number ofcompetitors from 67 in 1929 to a mere nine today.

In the 1920s, our landscape sported elevator rows representing six or more companies. Today, the names of only two, or perhaps three, companies grace those same rows. The largest of the remaining companies in Alberta are Agricore United (formerly Alberta Wheat Pool, Manitoba Wheat Pool and United Grain Growers), Cargill Ltd., Pioneer Grain Company Ltd. and Parrish & Heimbecker. Options for the producers declined further in the 1990s as saw-offs gave companies a monopoly in certain towns.

Searle Grain Company, owned by the Searle family of Minneapolis, started building elevators in 1914 in Alberta under the name of Home Grain Company. Searle Grain merged with Federal Grain in 1967. In 1972, the company was bought out by the Alberta Wheat Pool.