Series .02 - Farmers Union of Alberta Milo-Queenstown Local #1226

The Farmers’ Union of Alberta (FUA) was established on January 14, 1949 when the United Farmers of Alberta and the Alberta Farmers’ Union amalgamated. Milo Farmers Union of Alberta Local #1226 had 36 members in October of that year.
While primarily concerned with agricultural issues, like its predecessor, the Milo FUA was involved with a range of community projects, including rural electrification and the construction of a park at Lake McGregor. Meetings were usually held in the homes of individual members, though sometimes in community buildings like the Milo Municipal Office or the Odd Fellows Hall. Following an “Urgent General Meeting in November 1954, the local became a “Milo-Queenstown combination”, and meetings alternated between the two communities.
The combined local participated in the annual Lake McGregor Race Meet; arranged for the bulk purchase of goods ranging from salt to frozen fruit; gave regular support to Farm Young People’s Week, and later, Gold Eye Lake Camp; held joint programs and meetings with the Milo-Queenstown Farm Women’s Union of Alberta; and oversaw two major initiatives for its members, the construction of a seed cleaning plant in Queenstown, and a medical services insurance group that was arranged through Blue Cross in 1963. Politically, they petitioned various levels of government about such issues as the wheat and hog marketing boards, the expansion of various farming communities in the area, and road construction and upgrading.
In 1970, the Farmer’s Union of Alberta amalgamated with the Alberta Federation of Agriculture. The Farmers' Union of Alberta amalgamated with the Alberta Federation of Agriculture to become Unifarm,
and Milo-Queenstown Farmers Union of Alberta Local #1226 became Unifarm Milo Queenstown Local #124-126.