Thunder Bay farmers to harvest community crop for world's hungry
A group of Thunder Bay-area farmers will harvest wheat to feed the hungry — the result of a community effort that involved 15 farmers who tilled, seeded, and sprayed the crop.
On Saturday the farmers will continue to donate their time and equipment as a fleet of combines and grain trucks will come together to harvest a 28 hectare plot in the Slate River valley.
A spokesperson for the Thunder Bay Community Growing Project said the 100-tonne grain harvest always feels good, even though this year there's some farmer fatigue.
“Everyone has been getting their own stuff done and it's getting really late in the season,” Bernie Kamphof told the CBC.
“But I mean, it's a good feeling to know that we can come together.”
After harvest, the crop will be stored at the Thunder Bay Co-op Farm Supplies grainhandling facility on Boundary Drive.
When this year's wheat crop is sold, Kamphof said it might bring in about $20,000 for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Those dollars are matched by the Canadian International Development Agency, which then uses the money to provide food aid to the world's needy.
Kamphof said they'd normally be harvesting in mid-September.
“Everything is late this year,” he said.
“We would have liked to have harvested it probably closer to the middle of September but, the way the weather has been, we're harvesting in the middle of October. We're glad the weather is being co-operative for us.”
The forecast for Saturday is for dry weather.
The project is now in its twelfth year, and has provided more than $100,000 in contributions since its inception.
The Thunder Bay venture is part of 256 growing projects located across Canada that have provided more than $42 million in aid to 42 different countries, according to www.foodgrainsbank.ca.