The Preeceville Arena canola fundraiser harvest was finished on October 18.
The canola field was located approximately one mile west of Preeceville and was a volunteer effort.
"A big thank you goes out to so many people and organizations for another successful arena crop fundraising project," said Andrea Tonn, Town of Preeceville recreation director and project organizer.
The fundraiser effort started off with the donation of the land by John and Carol Hoterra of Hoterra Farms. This year’s crop of Nexera Canola yielded 42.5 bushels per acre and was harvested in less than four hours by Pattison Agriculture employees with Pattison Ag donating the use of the equipment.
"We were very pleased with the yield as this year was posing some challenges for all," said Tonn. "A huge shout out to Boyd Ellis at Dow Agro Science for the seed which Sheldon Wallin was very helpful in getting to us. We applied a fungicide which was donated by Derek Stykalo of Bayer Crop Science."
“Spraying of the crop was donated by Colin Mastrachuk. We were very grateful to Peniuk Farms for donating swathing in this year’s fundraiser. Tyler Peniuk and Steven Mclean started the swathing by 6 a.m. to avoid further shelling of the crop and were very quick in getting the canola swathed," she added.
The crop was seeded and harvested by Pattison Ag.
Wes Jaeb was acknowledged for helping organize these efforts, along with Tim Olson, who has been in the operations side of things since the beginning of this fundraising project. Jason Anaka also helped the harvest by operating a combine.
“Another huge part of this fundraiser was trucking the canola to Yorkton Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC.) Highway 16 Transport once again helped us with the trucking which was greatly appreciated,” stated Tonn,
“This was such a busy time of year for everyone but Highway 16 owners Trevor Koshman and Tyler Husulak helped us within a day’s notice,” stated Tonn.
"Timing was crucial as it was very last minute and we had to coordinate the harvest so that it worked for everyone. Last but not least the sale of the canola was organized by Scott Welke from LDC. This was a crucial component to our fundraiser as they were very helpful in making sure that we were able to sell our product and also worked willingly on a very tight time frame. LDC at this time of year was extremely busy and with the delay in harvest they were so accommodating in helping us," said Tonn.
“There were many private and corporate donations from the beginning and we are extremely grateful for all of this. Some of the funds have been used in upgrades of the Preeceville Arena, a new sound system, score clock and we are currently in the process of washroom renovations. None of this would have been possible without everyone's help in the past and in this year’s effort.
“We are extremely grateful and lucky for what we have in this community. People and organizations pull together to help each other out. I hope everyone knows how much it is all appreciated,” concluded Tonn.
