Local Growers Unite for
Harvest 4 Hunger

Bernie Prefontaine, a lifelong resident of the Legal area, owns a quarter section of land four miles east of Legal on the north side of Highway 851 west of his home quarter that has been in the Prefontaine family for 110 years, and wanted to do something.

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Bernie Prefontaine, a lifelong resident of the Legal area, owns a quarter section of land four miles east of Legal on the north side of  Highway 851 west of his home quarter that has been in the Prefontaine family for 110 years, and wanted to do something special.

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'So why don’t I commemorate (the late) Mr. Seguin and carry on what he had started; a memorial of what he had started.”

He thought, “How can we do this? How can we celebrate?”

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Bernie contacted Leo’s widow, Bonnie Seguin, with the idea, not wanting to do this behind her back - giving her full knowledge of what he had in mind. He wanted to “cover all the bases,” as he put it. The idea was to put in this quarter section, 125 acres of prime cropland, into a project to raise funds for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB).

At the roadside of the quarter section, he had a sign put up that noted “Harvest 4 Hunger” and beside it, the logo for Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Below, it reads, “The Harvest 4 Hunger project was inspired by Leo Seguin & associates of Westlock, Alberta whose dedication to the Canadian Food Grains Bank and their Ethiopia relief efforts in 1998 laid the foundation of this incredible initiative” (The year 1998 refers to the time in August when the Westlock Growing Project, founded by Leo Seguin, held their World Record Harvest, combining a quarter section of swathed wheat on Aug 27, 1968 with 65 combines in 15 minutes and 43 seconds.)

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All the wheat seed for Bernie’s project was donated by Rene Victoor of Victoor Seed Farms even before the project
officially got underway, so he thought, “I guess I’ll carry on with this project then.” The wheat he used was AAC Wheatland, Hard Red Spring (HRS).

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Many of the other inputs, including fertilzer, etc. were also either donated or at reduced rates, and the project went ahead. 

“Everybody was buying into this whole concept.” he says, reflecting on the harvest, which took place Sept 22. “The minute I mentioned it, people would ask ‘how can I contribute, what can I give?’  At first, I said, all we need is two or three combines, this will be done in no time,” and suggested with the value of combines when operating would be about $500, so if persons wished to contribute cash or deliver some grain donated to the project, and ultimately to CFGB, that would help a great deal. “

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His nephew, Andre Montpetit, who normally rents this quarter said, “Uncle, you don’t understand. People want to be part of this. They want to make history. They want to be part of the operation.”  Andre had given up whatever benefits he might have made from that quarter this year, and Bernie gave up the rent he would have received, both significant.

On harvest day, six combines showed up, five were farmer-owned and operated, and Agri Trac brought in a combine on tracks with a 60-foot header. Of the four John Deere combines, one had a 50-foot header, and three a 45-foot header. A second New Holland also had a 50 foot header, meaning that each pass over the field could be up to 295 feet of harvest.

It took just a little over two hours to combine the 215 acres, which included stopped time to unload the hoppers onto the waiting grain carts. A quick guesstimate would be about two minutes to harvest each acre of the crop.

There were three farmer-owned grain carts to collect the wheat and deliver it to the five waiting super-B grain trucks, which hauled the grain to the three destinations. 

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On the last full pass of the six combines on the field heading back south towards those watching the harvest, the operators decided to all come back together, making a classic and impressive grand finale finish to the harvest.

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An estimated 200 people showed up to either participate in or watch the harvest. Following the harvest, a post-harvest meal was provided just off of the field for those who stayed around.

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Bernie’s initial comment to the overall reaction by people and the harvest itself: “It totally blew me away”

“It’s almost selfish of me, because, the work that we’ve done together with the community, you just get this good feeling. Is it selfish to feel good? It’s a real feel-good thing for the community. It’s a sort of thing I had on my bucket list and it’s something I’ll never forget. It was fun!”

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At the supper, he gave special thanks to his family and wife Colleen for all their support throughout this project, and to all who contributed to the project in any way, including prayers, emotional support, financial and donations of time and equipment. He ended with a couple of quotes, the first by Winston Churchill: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give,” and the second by Anne Frank: “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

The crop graded number 1, moisture 12.1, protein 12.2-12.5 and total yield was 11,090.7 bushels, an average of 88.72 bushels per acre, and at $6.73 per bushel, netted $74,585.31. The grain was transported to Westlock Terminals in Westlock, and Westmor Terminals and G3 Terminals at Morinville.

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Abe Janzen, regional representative for CFGB in Alberta, said this year, there were 31 growing projects in Alberta from the southern part of the province to the Peace country.​​