Earlier this summer, Mossbank farmers banded together to plant a seed of an idea to better their community. This fall they harvested and sold their crop which is part of the Farm it Forward: Advancing our Community project.
Farm it Forward is a non-profit organization in Mossbank that aims to generate income for community groups, such as the rink, school, hall, ball diamonds and others.
Farmland is seeded and the profits from the harvest are donated back to the community.
Earlier in February a group of interested producers got together to initiate the idea, set up a board and find some land. The board members are Kiall Jennett, Sarah Lovo-Jolly, Arlene Macknack, Dawn Green, Chris Hawkins, Derek Howe, Bryan Howe, Mike Jolly and Colleen Stark. There was a lot of local business and community interest to help make the project a reality.
The Farm it Forward board was overwhelmed by the support of community members and local businesses. Chris Hawkins and Derek Howe designated a 112 acre plot of land in conjunction with the land owners, Lorne and Faye Carlson.
The plot is located on Highway 2 about 10 km from Mossbank and there are highway signs indicating the project. The plot was seeded to durum. Local businesses lent support, offering seed and inputs, fuel, business services, and harvest meals, while the labour and machinery were supplied by the board members.
Supporters include: Hawk’s Agro, Nagel Agencies, Farmer’s Edge, Southland Co-op, CK Transport, Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd., Cargill, Syngenta, DuPont, Dow, Owen Labuik, Bayer, Art Weiss, Dan and Colleen Stark, Howe Livestock, Ryan Howe, Overtime Ag. Inc., Dry Lake Farms, Petersen Land & Cattle, Shawn Eisen, South Country Equipment, Tomda Enterprises, Schlamp Cattle, J-MAS, AgriTax, Pioneer, Top Shelf, Silver Blue Photography, Able II Print, Mitch’s Meats, CHAB, CBC and Assiniboia Times.
Although growing conditions were less than ideal this year, there were seven combines and one grain cart out to harvest the first crop. The harvest took one hour, one minute and 11 seconds.
After receiving several bids from grain buyers, the crop was sold to P&H, the highest bidder. The board plans to invest the proceeds from this year’s crop into leasing land for next year’s crop.
After that, it hopes to have a larger harvest and to begin allocating funds to community groups. The board plans to establish an application process for community groups to request funds.
