Harvest 2021. (Supplied)

By Phillip Maiani and Sheldon Spackman

Central Alberta Foodgrains Growing Project

Local charity growing project in need of land in Lacombe County

Mar 2, 2022 | 10:27 AM

The Central Alberta Foodgrains Growing Project (CAFGP) is urgently looking for available farmland in Lacombe County to grow a charity crop for the 27^th consecutive year.

CAFGP member Doug Maas says the group has already looked at a few different options but ultimately nothing has come to fruition yet.

“We really do need some land. It’s March and in order to do the 27^th year of our project to raise money to help hungry people in the world, we need a land donor in Lacombe County to either donate some land or cash rent it to us,” explained Maas.

There are no parameters for the acreage of the land as it has varied year-to-year. Last year’s crop was grown on 120 acres, and in years past, the crops were grown on 90 acres and even a full quarter section of 160 acres.

“We’ll take a look at any area of Lacombe County. We’ve got farmers willing to help us in any part of the county with all the necessary work in the spring and fall,” says Maas, in regards to how the group will work with the land owner. “With the land owner we will grow any crop the owner wants that will meet normal crop rotation requirements.”

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CAFGP is hoping to secure land quickly because seeding typically begins near the end of April. Once the land is secured and the crop type has been selected, the group wants to approach local agriculture businesses for donations of things like seed, fertilizer, and spray.

Last year’s canola crop and donations yielded over $115,000 for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The total was then matched 4-1 by the federal government and the Foodgrains Bank then distributed it to hungry people across the world.

“We are helping people with emergency food aid and so we are helping their community,” says Maas, on the importance of the initiative. “But also, when you see all these farmers come together with owners of agra-businesses, with some urban people who come out to the harvest, we are building our own community. We are bringing people together…We are strengthening our own community by helping other communities around the world.”

There are more than 30 of these charity crops grown across Alberta and over 200 across Canada each year. In 2021, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank assisted just over 989,000 people in 31 different countries around the world.

If anybody is interested in donating their land in Lacombe County for CAFGP, Maas urges them to contact longtime member Vic Bergen at 403-782-2545.

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