What we know so far

     Our fields are spread over the prairies again with many real farmers teaming up with virtual farmers (that can and might be you ! )  to raise crops and funds to help people in the Congo help themselves.
The Penners, Maziers, Pankratzs and Kowbels are all growing canola for us near Justice and just north of Brandon, Manitoba.  The Marvins are back again with some acreage west of the elevator.  I wrote about the VanHeysts in the adjacent post.  They are in the same neighbourhood too !
  The Tiedes came through for us again at Strathmore, Alberta growing yellow peas for us.  In Saskatchewan we have our largest fields at Kinistino and Melfort with the Vanburgstedens growing canola and the Arndt's rotating their crop to wheat from the canola they grew last year.  Rotation goes along way towards preventing disease and troublesome insects.  The Hudyes at Norquay have several people partcipicating in Kernels by committing the entire crop from about 10 acres per farm through the "Helping Feed the World Program" 
      A little here and a little there adds up so fast.  People caring about others.  If you think you can help see the donor info on the adjacent post.  Or email me !
   I will keep you posted on the crop stages and conditions throughout the year.  Anticipation is half the fun and I am having more fun this year than ever as we do our part to End Hunger .

    

We are growing again in 2012 !

    You'll see a picture of return Kernels farmers the VanHeyst's !  They are growing 6 acres of hard red spring wheat for us this year.  It is just over a mile to the elevator when it is ready to harvest.  It is close to a market but there has to be a lot happen before then !   Soon the crop will be big enough that the weeds will need to be sprayed... leaving only the good stuff !  The good stuff is Carberry wheat.  It is one of the best bread quality wheats in the world.  If we were to set the price now we'd get about $7.25 / bushel.  We hope to harvest over 50 bushels per acre... IF, the weather is favorable from start to finish, IF no disease comes,  IF  insects don't attack, IF is one of the farmers favorite words. IF it works out we will be able to help so many people in the Congo get the proper nutrition through helping buy them seed and tools and providing training and at times emergency food rations.  This crop is barely visible in the picture... how could it help ?  It has huge potential and will do it's best to survive and thrive.  Just like people when given half a chance.  We have started planting and gathering funds to pay for those crops.  If you can help, gather some friends and gather some funds and send them to ECCC  Box 34025 RPO Fort Richmond, Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3T 5T5
Just write Kernels on the note line on the bottom of the cheque and we'd love to send you a donation receipt.  Each $ raised through farming and surplus donations (after the input costs are covered ) gets forwarded to World Relief Canada for the Canadian Food Grains Bank.  The Canadian Government throws in $4 for each $1 we raise !   Making a difference to about 4,000 people in North Kivu County of the Congo this year.  Grow with us !  

Ray the Grain Guy    

The fields are ready !

Guys are just getting out in the fields in this part of Manitoba... One comment from a producer was that the soil was the most mellow this year that he has ever seen. It tilled up perfectly and is ready to grow ! I will get you more details as we go but I can tell you we have quite a bit of canola going in for Kernels this year ! Grow with us !

Joseph Kony 2012

You can help save children in the Congo , Sudan and Uganda from Joseph Kony
Go to Kony2012.com on Invisible Children
there is a video that lets you help !

$12

The canola markets have been heating up ! Soybeans usually determine our canola prices and they are not having great yields in South America. They are also starting to run down the stocks of the Soybeans in the States... If the US gets seeding early ( good chance of that ) the farmers may put more corn in the ground than beans... We currently have shrinking stocks and great demand for Canadian Canola. This has been making for some excellent prices. We stepped into the market Friday March 16 and set a price of $12.00 / bushel for 5 tonnes of canola to be delivered to Brandon in September... $10 is usually a very good price...$12 is great
Stay tuned !
Ray the Grain Guy

Spring has Sprung

We have had a nice winter and spring has seemed to arrive early ! The farmers are getting restless ! We had some great news from World Relief Canada recently. Eric and Bruce of WRC have said we have totally funded the whole project in North Kivu in the Congo. (This is a year early ... wow ) They would like us to move an to another project. That is fantastic news. They haven't had to tell anyone something like this before ! Thanks to all of you farmers and virtual farmers who have been able to help us meet and then exceed our goals. I will have more details soon on who we can work with next.

Ray the Grain Guy

Christmas Time

Christmas time is often the time of year that people look forward as a time of visiting with their families and friends and for giving and receiving gifts. Sometimes those gifts are just caring for others that need it more than we do !
This year on Dec 23 rd we got our final numbers in for Kernels of Hope. We banded together across the country and even some of our neighbours south of the 49th parallel to join in raising crops to help people in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. You likely know that we have been helping these people in this war torn country resettle onto their farmland through helping them attain seed and tools and even fishing equipment so they can once again feed their families and get some extra income to better their lives. The Hudyes of Norquay have been a huge supporter of this project through their unique project called " "Helping Feed The World " This project adds to our virtual farming theme by having actual producers in their area designate the whole production of 10 acres of crop to Kernels of Hope. The crops in many areas were average at best this year but in the Norquay area things were great ! Big bushels multiplied by big prices and backed up by big hearts equal an amazing addition once again to Kernels !
The Hudyes are very committed to making a difference this way and they challenged their good friends in Burlington, Colorado to have some producers help out too ! They came through big time !
When we add all the components of Kernels together this year, Benefit Projects like the "Wide Open Spaces" Musical by Neelin High School in Brandon, The Ugly Sweater, the Real farmers growing real crops for the donors or the virtual farmers, real farmers donating actual grain to World Relief Canada through the CFGB on behalf of Kernels and the wonderful enthusiasm and funds from "Helping Feed the World " we have raised $100,000 this year ! That is a record in our 7 year history ! The Canadian International Development Agency ( CIDA ) is matching those funds $4 for every $1 we raise. That makes a total of $500,000 for our project in the Congo this year. What a benefit it will be to the people of the Congo. What a Christmas present for me to find this out at this time of year. For my part the giving of time and resources to this project has come back to me as blessings many times over just by having the privelege to farm with all of you and to make a difference that can last for generations. We are truly blessed in North America. Thanks so much for farming in what ever fashion you did this year if you were able ... We are going to farm again in 2012
Stay tuned for how we can once again turn something little like a seed into a life changing program for them and for us ! Grow with us again !

Blessings in 2012 from Ray the Grain Guy !