Acres for Hamiota harvests $45K in soybeans

HAMIOTA — A community group harvested roughly $45,000 worth of soybeans on Friday to raise funds for future community improvement projects in Hamiota.

The non-profit group Acres for Hamiota harvested 120 acres of soybeans this year. The revenue will go toward future grants in Hamiota, though no projects have been chosen yet.

In the past, the charity funds have been used to install heaters at the community ice rink, maintain a concrete floor in the community hall and buy a defibrillator for the local gym, president Mark Knight said.

“When you have a good, strong volunteer community like we do, it makes it really easy to do something like this,” Knight said. “”The success of this is solely based on the community.”

Local producers volunteered three combines, three grain trucks and one cart for the day. The seeds that were planted early in the season were donated by Pioneer Hi Bred International. The land was leased to the charity group by a local.

Gerald Lepp, sales rep for the seeds company, told the Sun that he advocated to have the seeds donated. The company decided to because staff saw the community benefits, he said.

“An organization like this, you look at where the money goes in the community, and it’s a good return,” he said. “Our investment in the seed turns into a large return for them, and 100 per cent of their efforts go back into the community. That’s why I wanted to promote it.”

The Acres for Hamiota non-profit has raised about $200,000 now in its fifth year.

The harvest day was combined with an educational field trip for children. A class of Grade 3 and 4 students from Hamiota spent the afternoon experimenting hands-on with soybean plants, touring combines and making thank-you cards for the volunteers.

“It’s huge for children to learn about agriculture and Hamiota is obviously an agricultural community,” said the education day organizer, Laura Cowling. “It’s always exciting to see the next generation excited about agriculture.”

Cowling said the kids handled soybean plants to identify the different parts like root, stem, pod and seed.

Blair Charlton, a board member for Acres for Hamiota, helped kids tour a combine parked on the property before harvest began.

“For our community to carry on, we need young people, we always need them involved,” Charlton said, standing in the shadow of the giant machine. “With less and less people in the rural, stuff like this helps a lot.”

The donations make a difference keeping the community up and running as well, he said, adding the heaters in the ice rink help everyone who goes in and the money put toward the community rink kitchen makes a noticeable difference.

Charlton led a class of kids around a combine, describing how different parts function.

LeeAnn Haggarty, a board member who volunteered to serve lunch, said she was happy with the crowd on Friday. Roughly 100 people turned out for the lunch and community fundraiser.

“I enjoy it,” she said. “I do it for the community. And it brings everybody together.”

The harvest last year sold for roughly $75,000, organizers told the Sun. With momentum going, the fundraiser is set to take place at the same property south of Hamiota again next year.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com