Monday, December 28, 2009

"Helping Feed The World Initiative 2009" A BIG Boost !

We just got the numbers in from Hudye Soil Services at Norquay.... This is a huge boost to our Kernels of Hope totals for South Sudan from 2009... We had $210,000 including matching CIDA funds last week... On Dec 23 we had this added ! Another $116,000 totalling $326,000 for 2009. Thankyou so much to all those who contributed in any way... You have done a lot by each person just doing a little. Please see the story on the initiative below:

For Immediate Release: Dec 23, 2009

On Wednesday Dec 23, 2009 five local producers presented a cheque to "Kernels of Hope" in the amount of $23,205.75 . Kernels of Hope is affiliated with World Relief Canada and The Canadian Food Grains Bank and donations to it result in a matching donation in a factor of 4 to 1 by the Canadian International Development Agency. This resulted in a total value of $116,028.75 reported by Fallon Hudye of Hudye Soil Services Inc of Norquay, Saskatchewan.

The amount generated is to be directed into programs that provide food for those in dire need and for the purchase of seed and tools to help farmers in Southern Sudan Africa to reestablish there homes , farms and lives said Ray Baloun of Minnedosa, Manitoba who began the Kernels of Hope program in Norquay five years ago.

Krywy Farms, Leis Farms, LTS Grain Farms, Steven Nahachewsky and Hudye Farms stepped up to the plate and participated in the initiative organized by Hudye Soil Services Inc to to have each producer donate 10 acres of a crop of their choice to the project. The hope of the initiative is to potentially "snowball" into many more acres in the future in recognition of the efforts put forth by the farming community to "Helping Feed the World"

In these times when concerns are raised about the ability to produce enough food for a growing global population , producers are eager to rise to the challenge , incorporating all available research to produce more.

" The donation to Sudan provides hope to those who often have none", Baloun said
World news has never before highlighted the problems of hunger and access to food as much as it is now being done and everyone who is contributing in this way is making a huge difference at a time when it is so important.

"A difference is being made around the world from right here in Norquay, Saskatchewan, Canada," Baloun said

Thursday, December 17, 2009

2009 Summary


Howdy !
We don't know everything yet but things have worked out well on our farms overall this year!
The summer was not normal and the harvest seemed to drag on longer than ever fighting the poor conditions. Low expectations for yield and quality were had by most over the season.

Here's where we are at :

Darryl and Delora Doell at Wetaskiwin in the heart of Alberta had a struggle with the weather .
We had 25 acres of Conlon barley there that didn't thrive. It was cool and dry at just the wrong times. We did however have crop insurance on it and since they almost always have wonderful crops the coverage for insurance was high. We got covered for 90 bushels / acre at $3.70 /bu
This is a higher yield than we usually ever can get in Manitoba and the price was higher than anyone else got too ! We still had all the costs of operating it but it did clear abot two thousand for us.

Gerald and Darla at Kinistino pulled in a good crop of Prodigy CWRS wheat from their 50 acres . It hasn't been able to move into the grain elevator yet to know exactly but we are estimating that it will grade # 1 and be about 12% protein... the higher the protein the more money we get . It was dry so that helps a lot for marketing and value and cost reduction... You might call it kissed by the sun ! It ran about 60 bushels per acre ...and should fetch about $5.74 / bu > We'll clear about $8500 there... Pretty good considering it could just as easily have frozen before it was mature this year and been drastically reduced in quality and quantity !

Brian Foxton of the Minnedosa area heard about the project and dropped off a tonne of wheat for us that will throw $217 into the pot.

James and Judy Nelson of Norquay " the Heart of Kernels Country" had Ferris & Lindgren custom farm 30 acres of CWRS wheat for us this year... That's the field I described earlier as being in the Bag ! Well, Stan Unger the Grain Guy of the North arranged to get it into the grain elevator in Kamsack . It was also #1 and higher protein at 13.9 protein We got 43.525 net tonnes of wheat from that field. There are 36.744 bushels in a tonne. The price was higher at $223/tonne . We will net about $4300 from that field.

The Tiede's at Strathmore, Alberta seeded early and were also having a struggle with this years weather. That 30 acres of wheat got delivered to Carseland ... the protein was even higher at 14 and it also graded #1. It had very low dockage... Dockage is stuff that shouldn't be there and that we don't get paid for at the elevator. Dockage can be composed of wild oats or chaff or broken seeds... Similar to parts of peoples lives I suppose... Dockage in grain is much easier to handle though ! We got 45 bu / acre at Strathmore and it will clear about $ 3600

Steve and Loni Marvin of Brandon were first time Kernels Farmers. They grew 10 acres of Wheat for us and it yielded about the same as Tiedes. The protein was 13.2 . This will clear about $1300 for our project. This wheat was delivered to the elevator that I work at north of Brandon.

Andrew & Riordan Dennis had a phenomenal crop of Clearfield Canola at Brookdale, Manitoba
The variety was 45 P 70. It ran 49 bushels per acre and was dry and it graded #1 . You can see the actual canola a couple of posts ago on this website as it was delivered to our elevator. We cleared $4800 on this but then the Dennis' topped that up big time with a donation. They also created awareness of the cause in their area !

Cash Crop Field .... Support was great again from all of you Virtual Farmers. All the actual production costs are covered and there will be about about $12,000 extra. This money also gets matched by CIDA ( Canadian International Development Agency ) at a rate of 4 to 1 normally, through World Relief Canada as a part of the Canadian Food Grains Bank .

Hudye Farms and Soils at Norquay, Saskatchewan will also soon have some totals from the project they contribute to Kernels through Helping Feed the World... There are producers there that are donating the entire value of 10 acres of their crop....

Kernels of Hope 2009 will be able to help the people in South Aweil County in Southern Sudan to farm / fish, supply emergency food and food for work to the tune of $210,000 this year (counting matching CIDA funding ) You can't imagine all the good you have done by supporting this effort. Making a Difference in peoples lives both short term and long term !

Thanks so much to all the real farmers for making this possible and to all the virtual farmers for being truly Outstanding in their Field!
Stay tuned for more updates as they arise.

Till next time,
Here's a short poem for you...
We will farm again in 2010 !

Ray the Grain Guy

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Canola Trivia

One of our fields ( The Dennis's ) was canola this year. One major thing you make from canola is cooking oil... Did you know that one canola producer can produce enough canola seed to give every adult in Winnipeg a bottle of Canola Oil !

Long Harvest

This has been a Looooooong Harvest Season ! The snow in most areas now has stopped most of the harvest... In many areas people were able to finish with the nice weather in November...
There were many phenomenal unexpectedly high yields in the prairies this year...
The odd timing of the weather had expectations low but in the end the bins filled up quicker than ever !
With the slow harvest it's made the gathering of our info and marketing of our Kernels Fields Crops slower and it has also kept me super busy buying grain at my real job !
Please stay tuned for a wrap up of the season !

Ray the Grain Guy