Ever since a band of Scottish settlers discovered in 1812 that early-maturing varieties of wheat from their native highlands would grow and ripen in Manitoba's short summers, the wheat crop has made the difference between prosperity or hard times for Canada's three prairie provinces. Last week, with bins and elevators brimming from the fourth fine harvest in five years, the threat of acute financial crisis hung incongruously over the prairies. Reason: the inability of Canada's National Wheat Board to sell the accumulated surplus at a price the farmers are willing to take....
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