Fonds 748 - Farmers' Union of Alberta, Irvine Local No. 1318 fonds

The Farmers’ Union of Alberta was established on January 14, 1949 with the amalgamation of the United Farmers of Alberta and the Alberta Farmers’ Union. It ceased to exist in January 1970 with its amalgamation with the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, creating Unifarm.
The Farmers’ Union of Alberta (FUA), was to be non-partisan, and the constitution proposed their objectives as being: to advance the interests of farmers and farmers’ co-operative organizations; to coordinate the efforts of the various branches of agriculture to promote their common interests through collective action; to promote and secure necessary and just legislation; to achieve a relationship of price which would ensure agriculture its fair share of national income; to contribute to a high standard of living for all citizens by promoting the highest production over a long period commensurate with sound agricultural practices; to promote social interaction, a higher standard of community life and the study of economic and social questions relating to agriculture and democratic citizenship; and to promote the fullest possible use of credit unions. The Farmers’ Union of Alberta was incorporated under the Societies Act (R.S.A. 1942, chapter 245) on July 6, 1949, with the objective of advancing the interests of farmers and farmers’ co-operative organizations.
Farm Women’s Union of Alberta worked in parallel to the FUA. The FWUA had a certain degree of autonomy, and had its own executive. Also working in parallel was the Junior FUA.
Like the United Farmers of Alberta and the Alberta Farmers’ Union, the FUA was comprised of a number of locals throughout the province. Many of these locals were a continuation of those from the previous farm organizations. Unlike the UFA locals, a large component of which had been its social activities, the FUA locals were more concerned with policy development at the larger district and regional organizations.
Presidents of the Farmers’ Union of Alberta: Carl Stimpfle, 1949-1950; Henry Young, 1950-1955; Arnold Platt, 1955-1958; Ed Nelson, 1958-1963; Paul Babey, 1963-1970