Salute to Raymond Somerville

[parsley]

Years ago, Raymond Somerville, from Saskatchewan, sent a load of his own feed wheat to an Alberta feedlot to feed to his own cattle that were being fed by that feedlot.

The Canadian Wheat Board stepped in, after all they did not allow any farmer to ship their own feed wheat or feed barley into another province without an interprovincial license.

To get the license, meant doing the buyback.

And within a short time, Raymond Somerville had the police at his door because the CWB charged him, slime that they are.

Somerville stood firm. With a young family, a two year old and a four year old. Think about that. Went to court. Went to appeal court. Went to the Supreme Court of Canada.

And he won.

And that it why, today, you are able to truck your own feed wheat and feed barley into an Alberta feelot. He opened up interprovincial trade of feed wheat and barley. He put countless money in farmers' pockets.

A few days ago, Ray Somerville passed away after a long illness, and leaves his wife, Myrtle, and his family to mourn, as do all of us.

And may Rayomond Somerville eternally enjoy warm sunshine and fifty bushel to the acre wheat. Parsley

[boarderbloke]

Pars, do you know what year he tried to ship his own feed to AB?

[parsley]

Summer of 1969.

At the time, nobody was buying feed grain. The Wheat Board wasn't buying and there were piles of feed grain during those years, unsold.

Cattle were being fed at Lethbridge for three or four years. The Somervilles bought into the feedlot at Red Deer. Made business sense.

The Wheat Board were only concerned about maintaining their power, and not about getting farmers' grain sold.

Raymond was also on the school board and on the RM. Pars

[parsley]

"Cattle were being fed at Lethbridge for three or four years. The Somervilles bought into the feedlot at Red Deer. Made business sense

Should read (I cut and pasted too fast from my notes.):


"Cattle were being fed at Lethbridge for three or four years. The Sommervilles hauled 4,326 bushels of feed wheat to Lethbridge. The police stopped Raymond outside Medicine Hat.
They bought into the feedlot at Red Deer. Made business sense."

[parsley]

I drove out to the Somervilles to meet them on Thursday, August 9, 2007. I asked why they fought the Board.
Myrtle replied:
" Ray could have paid the fine but he wanted to prove a point."

Indeed. Pars

[parsley]

Sommerville was charged by the CWB for not having a license.

He was acquited in Medicine Hat.

The CWB appealed.

It went to Calgary Appeal Court where three judges were for Raymond and one against.

The CWB appealed

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Somerville.

Parsley

[HFL]

I am glad Mr. Somerville has finaly found freedom. I am thankful that he had the courage to fight as hard as he did for the battle he won. I am hopeing I live long enough to experiance freedom.

[hobbyfrmr]

Rest in peace Raymond. Here is the family farmwebsite.

http://www.somervillefarmsltd.com/index.html

They sure contributed alot to the surrounding communities. It is suprising how a person will defend themselves when they have a young family. In my area, most farmers are older,drinking coffee, looking to retire not thinking too much about the community, more about the highest cash rent and income taxes.