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.
