Two Central Alberta farming projects helping the world’s needy have raised a combined total of $135,000.

And the Canadian Foodgrains Bank will end up a lot richer, once the $62,000 from the Ponoka Foodgrains Project and the $73,000 collected through the Central Alberta Foodgrains Project.

For every dollar raised, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contributes $4.

The Ponoka project would then raise a total of $310,000 while the Central Alberta project picked up $365,000.

Larry Henderson, spokesman for the Ponoka project, said that 11 combines took two hours to take off 65 bushels of barley to the acre.

The crop was sold for $57,000 to local farmers for feed.

About 200 people attended a catered lunch and donated $3,600.

Staff at Alberta Financial Services Corp. in Lacombe collected $900.

Doug Maas of the Central Alberta Foodgrains Project said that their second field was harvested on Saturday with the help of seven combines.

The crop of canola sold for $25,200 to Viterra grain elevator east of Lacombe.

About 200 people showed up for a barbecue and donated $1,500.

Another field was harvested earlier, raising more than $28,000.

The $73,000 total was the second best year in the 17 years of operating, said Maas.

Last year’s larger operation of 154 acres raised more than $100,000.

Maas said next year’s field involves about 120 acres on Hwy 11, not far from the community of Haynes east of Joffre.