Sask. farmers donate time, machinery to help youth in need

Aug 23, 2017
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

Harvest for Hope benefits Rock Solid Refuge

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

About 25 farmers from near Swift Current, Sask., have donated time and machinery to Rock Solid Refuge for its Harvest for Hope campaign.

This year, farmers helped harvest a barley crop. The yield isn’t known yet, but the money it generates can go a long way.

“A project like this can bring in close to $40,000 depending on the year,” Herbert Seelam, project coordinator with Rock Solid Refuge, told Farms.com. “It’s incredible to see the community come together.”

Rock Solid Refuge is a 12-month, biblically-based program for males between 13 and 18-years-old struggling with drugs, alcohol or other issues.

And the Harvest for Hope initiative helps Rock Solid fund programs and operating costs.

Farmers choose a plot of land at least 80 acres in size and share the cost and efforts of growing and harvesting a crop.

Local farm businesses and the general public also made machinery, crop inputs or cash donations.

The funds are used to produce a crop, which is then sold at a local elevator. The proceeds from the crop sales are invested back into Rock Solid.

Some of Rock Solid’s students were able to ride in the combines with farmers as they harvested the barley crop. The experience helped them understand that people do care.

“Some of these kids come to our program out of rejection,” Seelam said. “So for them to talk to these farmers who are donating time for kids they don’t know, it helps them understand that even though they’ve gone through lots in life, it shouldn’t be the end of it.”

More Sask. farmers show generosity

Another group of farmers used land and machinery to harvest a crop and use its proceeds for different causes.

With the help of seven combines, Farm it Forward, from Mossbank, Sask., harvested 112 acres of wheat on Aug. 17.

“It’s what you expect out of small-town Saskatchewan,” Kiall Jennett, chairman of Farm it Forward and a local agronomist, told CBC on Aug. 20.

The total dollar figure is currently unknown.

Individuals and organizations can apply to for grants from Farm it Forward. Farm it Forward’s nine-person board will then decide which initiatives receive funding.

Top photo: Silver Blue Photography/CBC

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.