Usually on a Saturday at this time of year, Chris Dzisiak would be busily swathing canola and harvesting early wheat. But cloudy skies and soaking rains have put all that on hold for now.

“Since we’re not able to harvest, may as well come here and have fun,” said Dzisiak, who attended the Dauphin old-time threshing day for the first time. “Life is about trying to enjoy yourself a bit.”

For many area farmers, the event was an opportunity to momentarily forget their wet fields and anticipated low yields.

Members of the Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club started Threshing Day in 1998 as a way to remember what farming was once like. Today, mostly retired farmers run the event. Many maintain antique equipment all year in anticipation.

The day features a variety of vintage fire trucks, auger equipment, chore horse plows and, of course, threshing machines. Before combine equipment arrived, harvesting required several people.

Brian Damsgaard remembers the transition. As a child of six or seven, he drove a team of horses through the fields while older men threw sheaves into the chute. By the time he started farming in the late ’60s, the work-intensive machines had been replaced with combines.

He attends Threshing Day every year. “We’ll come in the mornings usually,” he said. “Come look around and then go home and get busy.”

Other years he rushed home to harvest, but this year he and his son planned to stay the whole day. He even hoped to join in and help thresh.

Damsgaard and his son walked over to where the rest of the crowd gathered. Two of the three tractors whirred as the heavy rubber belt whipped around, connected to the threshing machine. Men stood in the hayrack, shovelling sheaves into the chute.

We walked alongside the machine spitting straw onto a growing pile. Damsgaard reached into a plastic tub beside the threshing machine and took out a handful of grain. With time-worn hands, he rubbed the small granules between his fingers, savouring the fruits of these men’s labour.

Cliff Hadway, another farmer from the area, and his family also usually only come for the morning. Even this year, he hoped to be harvesting his own fields by afternoon. He said he wasn’t sure what to expect, but said he, like many others, are hoping for lots more sun and a late frost.

“Days are getting shorter right now,” he said. “And this morning it was +5, so not too far from frost. And if we get frost we’ll be in real trouble.”

Dzisiak was hoping to swath within the next week, but he said the weather forecast wasn’t promising.

He said his hemp usually isn’t cut until late September or early October. At this rate, that crop could be late as well. But he was trying to stay positive. And for this day, he was forgetting about the future and letting his mind wander back to the past, when farmers faced the same struggles, but with a lot less sophisticated technology to help them manage. “As the old adage goes, if you’re given lemons, make lemonade,” he said.

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“Everyday work,

that’s what makes the difference, I guess.”

– DON BUTTERFIELD

It’s a sign of the times.

The activities at the Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club’s annual old-time threshing day could be either nostalgic or futuristic – depending on your view of the future of world oil production.

There was no discussion of Peak Oil at the event held last Saturday, but there was plenty of work being done without the magic of fossil fuels.

A demonstration of a turn-of-the-century stationary square baler, powered by a team of strong horses and men with pitchforks, showed that hay can be packaged sans diesel into neat little squares – albeit a little slowly.

Of course, the tractors that spun the belts that ran the three threshing machines lined up in a row were running on refined products derived from black gold, but the horses on the discer, mower and cultivator weren’t.

The Chore Team competition, a perennial favourite, aims to duplicate the necessary skills used by a teamster and his horses in the everyday business of farming. Those include standing calmly while hitching up to a wagon, rounding tight corners, and backing up to drop off freight onto a dock.

Judging is based on a perfect score of 90, with points deducted for mistakes, and the total time used in covering the course.

Don Butterfield, 74, the driver of a team of young black Percherons that ended up winning the event with a near-perfect score of 88 out of 90 and a time of five minutes and 29 seconds, said that giving horses some work to do every day is the secret to attaining top performance.

Having a team that moves together like clockwork, even at a brisk walk, is the secret to winning, he said.

“They’ve got to know gee and haw. That makes a big difference,” he said, referring to the teamster’s commands for left and right turns. He has another team back on the farm in Laurier that follows voice commands so well that he could virtually drive them without lines, he added.

“We use them for chores all winter,” said Butterfield, mainly hauling hay out to feed his 100-head of cattle in winter. “Everyday work, that’s what makes the difference, I guess.”

Butterfield’s winning team was broke to drive by Ed Duncalfe, a former PMU rancher from Winnipegosis, who picked them out of a group of foals on pasture. He was on hand at the event to offer congratulations to Butterfield, the perennial favourite in the annual competition.

“I spent the first winter with them, just driving them around the farm on the sleigh,” he said.

Duncalfe, who has trained many teams of horses, has never had a runaway, he added, because he is always careful to train the animals in gradual steps, first singly in a small pen, then hitched together as a team in a larger pen.

Is there money in training drafts?

“About 50 cents an hour,” he said with a laugh. “I broke two teams last winter just for something to do and I likely spent a couple of hundred hours on each team just to make them decent.”

Duncalfe, who lost his PMU contract in a round of cutbacks in the industry, still has 65 draft mares out on pasture. The prospect of sky-rocketing oil prices sending demand for good, trained teams through the roof makes him chuckle.

Kevin Wrightson, with a pretty Belgian quarter-horse cross team, came in second with 84 points and a time of 6:18.

Norman Long, driving over 4,000 pounds of eight-year-old Belgian horseflesh, came in third, with 84 points and a time of 6:20.

“I drive them three or four times a month,” said Long. “I do wagon rides for everybody in town and for the Bible camp, too.”

If there was an award for most economical horsepower, his team, former PMU colts, would have won it hands down. He bought the pair of geldings – which stand a lofty 17 hands high – for $200 each and trained them to drive himself, mainly in the course of skidding the seven or so cords of firewood out of the bush that he uses each winter.

“If you train them well, they’ll learn to stand good,” he said. “That’s the main thing.” daniel.winters@fbcpublishing.com

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Sept. 5 – Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club threshing day, 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., eight km north of Dauphin on Highway 20. Includes pancake breakfast, equipment displays, chore horse competition, buggy rides. Adults $5, students $2, ages 10 and under free. For more info call Gordon at 204-638-7632 or Don at 204-638-7515.

Sept. 11-12 – Honey, Garlic and Maple Syrup Festival, Manitou Arena and Fairgrounds. For more info e-mail svodden@mts.netor visit www.rmofpembina.com/honey-garlic.htm.

Sept. 11-12 – Pembina Threshermen’s Museum Threshing Days and 41st annual reunion, 9 a. m. to 8 p. m., Hwy. 3 between Winkler and Morden. For more info call 204-325-7497 or visit www.threshermensmuseum.com.

Sept. 11-13 – Beausejour Rodeo and Fair. Contact Curtis Stefaniuk at 204-268-3602.

Sept. 12-13 – Pembina Valley Artists Studio Tour, 10 a. m. to 6 p. m. each day, free admission. For more info call the Pembina Hills Arts Centre at 204-822-6026 or visit www.mordenmb.com(click on “Calendar of Events”).

Oct. 3 – Roland Pumpkin Fair, 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth weigh-off, 10:30 a. m., harvest supper 5 p. m. Free admission. For more info contact Arthur Cameron at 204-343-2314 or visit www.rolandpumpkinfair.ca.

Oct. 3 – Carnival of Crafts, 11:30 a. m. to 5 p. m., Edward Sports Centre, Pierson. For more info call Betty Mayes at 204-634-2482, e-mail carnivalofcrafts@mts.netor visit http://carnivalofcrafts.tripod.com.

The post Fairs & Festivals – for Sep. 3, 2009 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

or changes at news@fbcpublishing.com.

Sept. 5 – Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club threshing day, 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., eight km north of Dauphin on Highway 20. Includes pancake breakfast, equipment displays, chore horse competition, buggy rides. Adults $5, students $2, ages 10 and under free. For more info call Gordon at 204-638-7632 or Don at 204-638-7515.

Sept. 11-12 – Pembina Threshermen’s Museum Threshing Days and 41st annual reunion, 9 a. m. to 8 p. m., Hwy. 3 between Winkler and Morden. For more info call 204-325-7497 or visit www.threshermensmuseum.com.

Sept. 11-13 – Beausejour Rodeo and Fair. Contact Curtis Stefaniuk at 204-268-3602.

Oct. 3 – Roland Pumpkin Fair, 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth weigh-off, 10:30 a. m., harvest supper 5 p. m. Free admission. For more info contact Arthur Cameron at 204-343-2314 or visit www.rolandpumpkinfair.ca.

Oct. 3 – Carnival of Crafts, 11:30 a. m. to 5 p. m., Edward Sports Centre, Pierson. For more info call Betty Mayes at 204-634-2482, e-mail carnivalofcrafts@mts.netor visit http://carnivalofcrafts.tripod.com.

Oct. 3-4 – Russell High School Rodeo. Contact Lynda Witty at 204-773-4743.

Nov. 5-8 – Manitoba Livestock Exposition, Brandon. For more info contact Karen Oliver at 204-726-3590 or visit www.brandonfairs.com.

The post Fairs & Festivals – for Aug. 27, 2009 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

or changes at news@fbcpublishing.com.

Aug. 19-20– St. Vital Agricultural Fair, 4 p. m. to 8 p. m. daily, Winnipeg. Admission $2, free for ages 16 and under when accompanied by adult. Contact Brenda Trnka at 204-257-6372.

Aug. 21-23 – Corn and Apple Festival, Morden. For more info

visit www.cornandapple.com.

Aug. 22-23 – Harness Racing, Holland. Contact Joyce Elder at 204-526-2005 or Terry Early at 204-526-2263.

Sept. 5 – Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club threshing day, 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., eight km north of Dauphin on Highway 20. Includes pancake breakfast, equipment displays, chore horse competition, buggy rides. Adults $5, students $2, ages 10 and under free. For more info call Gordon at 204-638-7632 or Don at 204-638-7515.

Sept. 11-12 – Pembina Threshermen’s Museum Threshing Days and 41st annual reunion, 9 a. m. to 8 p. m., Hwy. 3 between Winkler and Morden. For more info call 204-325-7497 or visit www.threshermensmuseum.com.

Sept. 11-13 – Beausejour Rodeo and Fair. Contact Curtis Stefaniuk at 204-268-3602.

Oct. 3 – Roland Pumpkin Fair, 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth weigh-off, 10:30 a. m., harvest supper 5 p. m. Free admission. For more info contact Arthur Cameron at 204-343-2314 or visit www.rolandpumpkinfair.ca.

Oct. 3-4 – Russell High School Rodeo. Contact Lynda Witty at 204-773-4743.

Nov. 5-8 – Manitoba Livestock Exposition, Brandon. For more info contact Karen Oliver at 204-726-3590 or visit www.brandonfairs.com.

The post Fairs & Festivals – for Aug. 20, 2009 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.