This season we hosted a Canadian Foodgrains Bank project, growing whole-crop barley silage on one field. This fantastic scheme brings the farming community together in a united effort to raise funds to feed the hungry in developing countries.

For the project, North Paddock Farms donated a 58ha field, a local fertiliser dealer contributed towards 30% of fertiliser costs and another covered and organised the spreading. Barley seed was donated by a nearby seed plant. Neighbouring farmers took care of the cultivating, drilling and spraying, with pesticides partially donated by local dealers.

A local contractor and machinery dealership brought out two swathers to cut the crop and farmers donated trucks to ensure that the two foragers weren’t standing still during the harvest. Well, apart from the compulsory lunchtime stop to drive over to a field corner and enjoy a barbeque and chat with the 150-strong farmer crowds. The silage was trucked to a local beef farm which then purchases the crop from the Foodgrains project.

In return for the donations, project leaders send receipts to contributors. The donations are of a charitable nature, making the receipts tax deductible – a worthwhile reward for the efforts of those contributing towards the project. In addition, the Canadian government matches the total funds raised on a 4:1 ratio.

The barley had a tough season like all crops here. After initial seeding, the field was re-seeded four times as storms drowned out low spots. The sprayer inevitably got stuck. In total, the pivot made two and a half revolutions the entire season. The half revolution was supposed to be a full one, except the pivot got stuck, then I got my truck stuck trying to pull out the pivot before another storm came over and I gave up and went home.

Oh, and as you might expect, harvest was brought to a halt by yes… a storm.

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