Acres of Hope inspires farmers

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This article was published 22/09/2016 (3546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A flurry of combines overtaking a single field is a sight to behold, but to see golden wheat being cut and threshed for the common good is a view that does not get old for farmers like Ron Krahn.

He was among more than a dozen farmers from the Rivers, Oak River and Brandon regions who momentarily left their harvesting efforts to donate their time and machinery Wednesday afternoon to harvest the 19th crop Acres of Hope has tackled.

The proceeds from this year’s crop — 140 acres of wheat and another 55 acres of canola near Oak River — will go toward feeding those in need.

“It’s important because we recognize that we’re very fortunate to live in Canada,” said Krahn, chairperson of the Acres of Hope board, who helps operate Providence Farms north of Rivers.

“We’re very reliant on the weather, yet we recognize that there are people that are much worse off than us. For many of us, this is an extension of our faith, and so we are happy to get together and do something as a community.”

Acres of Hope is among the nearly 40 growing projects in Manitoba where farmers plant, tend and harvest a crop, then sell it to raise money for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a Christian organization whose mission is ending global hunger.

Krahn’s brother, Robert, was among the cluster of combines involved in the harvest.

“I just think it’s a great way to give back,” he said. “There’s so many people in the world who need food and assistance; this is the least we can do.”

The Acres of Hope project has cultivated money but indeed hope as well to less fortunate countries where someone going hungry is not out of the ordinary.

Farmers from the Rivers and Oak River region have come together since 1998 to simultaneously combine the land on a single day. Farmers earlier in the year donated the inputs like seed, fertilizer and chemicals to plant the crop.

The federal government matches their donations four to one.

“It’s not just a splashy photo and here’s a bunch of grain with no way of getting it to the people. They really look at what’s going to be the best for the people,” Robert Krahn said of the Foodgrains Bank, which provided food assistance in 2014-15 to the tune of $27 million thanks to matching grants.

For Acres of Hope, the proceeds from selling their wheat and canola will be directed to CFGB. Krahn estimates they will raise $40,000 to $50,000 this year.

Brothers Gord and Jamie McFadden donated a field south of Rivers where this year’s donated wheat crop was planted.

Gord is now on the Acres of Hope board, following his father’s footsteps.

“There’s a lot of people who are less fortunate in this world,” he said. “We can afford to do this kind of thing and help people.”

An unexpected advantage in donating a crop has been the camaraderie the farmers have forged, said Robert Krahn.

“To be able to work as a community, that’s died back a bit as times have progressed — you don’t have local elevators anymore,” he said. “The chance to work here as neighbours, that’s a side benefit.”

Jake Hamm, a longtime volunteer with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, attended the Acres of Hope harvest on behalf of the non-profit.

He is involved himself in a growing project around Neepawa and said efforts like Wednesday’s reinforces his belief that farmers are givers in society.

“I think farmers realize they’re so dependent on the weather … that whatever they get is a gift,” he said.

“I think that’s one of the reasons they share.”

Hamm’s granddaughter Jillian witnessed the combines as part of a field trip with her Grade 3 class from Rivers Elementary School.

The eight-year-old thinks the adults surrounding her are doing a good thing for those in need.

“If I was that person who was getting food, and I didn’t have any food, I’d be pretty happy.”

There are numerous other Growing Hope projects underway throughout Westman, including in Minnedosa, Boissevain and Killarney.

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