A group of Glenlea-area farmers took time to CHIPIN for global food security late last month.

Under a blue sky and ideal harvesting conditions on the morning of August 30, the farmers gathered with their equipment to quickly thresh 115 acres of Brandon spring wheat for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank under the Creating Hope In People In Need program known as CHIPIN.

With support from local businesses and volunteer time and equipment from local farmers, the 115 acres were seeded, fertilized, sprayed and nurtured under ideal growing conditions in 2017. On harvest day there was an accumulation of five combines, an equal number of grain carts and enough trucks of various sizes to whisk the grain away to the nearby G3 elevator as fast as it came off the field.

The yield was excellent measuring 88 bu./acre with a protein level of 13 per cent and a bushel weight of 65 pounds, making the project a great success in the eyes of the organizers.

Amanda Thorsteinsson, communications manager for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, said the excellent yields this year from many of the 250 projects across the country are especially significant because it will mean access to more funds from other sources too.

“What is donated from the sale of crop production from all the projects across Canada is matched by the Government of Canada on a 4:1 basis,” she said. “It is a commitment to a maximum of $25 million a year for a five-year program, so it’s very significant.”

In 2016-17, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank provided over $41 million of assistance to support 900,000 people in 35 countries.

The grassroots efforts are organized by local farmers who wanted to help share their success with those less fortunate. Doug Bartmanovich who is secretary-treasurer of the Glenlea project, credits its success to the various business partners who contributed to bring the project together. The land is leased from the University of Manitoba at Glenlea. The SeCan seed variety Brandon was donated by Manness Seeds of Domain, fertilizer was compliments of Domain Co-op and other crop inputs were provided by Bayer CropScience, BASF and CPS of Ste. Agathe. In addition, the local G3 elevator tacked on a $5/tonne premium on the delivered grain.

“We are thankful that CHIPIN Glenlea was able to produce a great crop of wheat in 2017 thanks to many helping hands including the Lord’s,” said Bartmanovich.

The Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 churches and church agencies working together to end global hunger.

Other harvests throughout the province will also be coming off in the next few weeks, including a Killarney-area harvest of 160 acres of canola that were taken off this week.