Unifarm

Alberta farmers and ranchers know that, in the frustrating business of agriculture, years of bounty inexplicably turn into years of despair. Looking back over the past half century, Jaques recounts the tumultuous history of the Alberta farm organization Unifarm. Unifarm: A Story of Conflict and Change documents Alberta farmers' quest to increase control over the forces that have had such an impact on their lives and describes how it led them to form organizations that have afforded them measures of stability and security throughout the past century. Unifarm, one of the most enduring of these organizations, is chronicled from its development in the 1970s to its reorganization as the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers in 1995. In discussing the relationship of Unifarm to the business of agriculture, Jaques addresses issues of co-operative philosophy, marketing boards, surface rights, commodity groups, and the importance of education and training for members of the rural community. Unifarm is an important book that sheds new light on the many facets of Alberta's rich agricultural history.