Travelling side by side at 1.5 miles per hour, 200 combines broke the Guinness World Record for the most harvesters working on the same field as part of Harvest For Kids Aug. 7 near Winkler.

Amanda Mochan, the Guinness World Records judge said when this event came through her computer system she just knew she had to take it, it seemed so amazing.

“Guinness is very strict with the rules because breaking a Guinness World Record is something very serious and not many people can do it,” said Mochan. “The rules for today say there have to be at least 176 combine harvesters, because the previous record was 175. The combine harvesters have to combine simultaneously for at least five minutes.”

Harvest for Kids committee member Gary Wiebe said the 300 acres yielded close to 15,000 bushels at 15.4 per cent moisture content. The unofficial time to take off the wheat was around 11 minutes.

“It is the kind of event that brought tears to a person’s eyes rolling down the field and seeing a wall of combines approaching from the other side,” said Jack Froese, a Winkler-area farmer and whose rented land made up the 300 acres used for this harvest. “I felt mixed emotions because the money sends children to camps offering them new hope and the grain also feeds them.”

Producer Mel Penner, the lead combine organizer said the event was spiritually uplifting as well.

Combines came from farms across southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, North Dakota and Minnesota.

All the money raised at the event will send children in developing countries to Christian camps run by Children’s Camps International.

CCI president Ray Wieler said the finances raised will touch at least 50,000 kids. Since starting in India in 2003, 600,000 children have already attended camp and 170,000 so far in 2010.