Wheat Pool

A wheat pool is a co-operative that buys grain (mostly wheat) from farmers.

In Canada in 1923 and 24, three wheat pools were created. They were farmer-owned co-operatives, created to break the power of the large for-profit corporations, that had dominated the grain trade in Western Canada since the late 19th Century, and were an early source of Western alienation.

The wheat pools were successful grain traders and marketers from 1923 to 1929. During the Great Depression, however, huge losses forced them out of the grain marketing business. They persisted as grain elevator operators but after 1935 all grain marketing in Canada shifted to a new government agency, Canadian Wheat Board.

During the post-war era, the wheat pools almost completely replaced the private grain companies as elevator operators. By the 1990s, however, most had demutualized (privatized), and several mergers occurred. Now all the former wheat pools are part of the Viterra corporation.