STRONGFIELD—A long, cold winter like last year’s, as unpleasant as it was, has its benefits.
It gave the folks at Gardiner Dam Terminal (GDT) in Strongfield time to envisage a new project that could help its customers and the communities it serves.
Last Monday marked the first harvest of GDT’s Crops for Communities, a concept GDT talked about over the winter and enacted in the spring, GDT Ag Services CEO Shawn Graham said, as combines donated to the cause made the rounds of a canola field just outside of Strongfield.
The purpose of Crops for Communities, Graham said, is to collect agronomic information on seed varieties to help customers make informed decisions about their seed purchases and to help communities within the area GDT serves.
GDT has rented an 160-acre field on the east side of Highway 19 at Strongfield. Graham said the location is ideal because its highly visible so that a sign recognizing all the individuals and companies supporting the project gets to be seen and the field is close to GDT’s facility.
Due to sloughs and standing water, 145 acres were seeded. The field was divided into 2-acre test plots on which 13 canola seed varieties were planted. Graham said GDT held a seed tour in July to look at crop emergence, flowering time and maturity. As the growing season progressed into harvest, Graham said GDT Ag Services has also collected information on swathing, yields and crop quality for the various plots. He said GDT will publish this information and make it available to its customers so it can help them on their farms.
The total net income from the canola crop will be divided equally among nine communities: Loreburn, Central Butte, Kenaston, Davidson, Outlook, Lucky Lake, Beechy, Dinsmore and Conquest to be used to support recreational facilities.