It was one of the best attended Farmer Appreciation Lunches we’ve hosted in quite some time. Just over 500 people joined CFAM Radio 950, Country88 and Eagle 93.5 in Winkler Tuesday inside and absolutely packed Meridian Exhibition Centre. The day was filled with hard working farm families at every table enjoying a free pork on a bun lunch grilled to perfection by Kevin Hildebrand and his team from The Bunker Youth Ministry.
Many of the tables had two or three generations sitting at them, with all helping on the farm in some fashion. Those farm families came from across Southern Manitoba, from as far west as the Mariapolis and Somerset area to the Notre Dame and Rosenort region to the north and along the Red River to east. Of course, we had many people join us from the Morden, Winkler and Altona areas, too.
"Farming is such an integral part of our community of Southern Manitoba, Winkler in particular," shared Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens when we caught up with him during the Farmer Appreciation Lunch. "To be able to talk to farmers about the optimism they have, and knowing so many other areas are fairly dry and it's much more difficult, but here to talk to people and hear that the crops are looking good, and that we have enough moisture. Ultimately, whenever there's an opportunity for a group of farmers to get together, there's a fair amount of visiting, there's a little bit of bragging and there's generally just having fun. It's nice to be a part of that."
And the Meridian Manufacturing bin winner is?
Every active farmer who attended the Farmer Appreciation Lunch could enter to win a Meridian Manufacturing 1615 multipurpose hopper-bottom bin engineered for more than just fertilizer storage. They also provide versatile solutions for storing grain, seed and other bulk materials. The smooth-wall bin can store approximately 3,258 bushels.
From the hundreds of entries received Tuesday, Mitchell Groening who farms near Kane, was the name pulled out and the grand prize winner of that bin! When CFAM Radio 950 Morning Show Co-Host Chris Sumner reached Mitchell he was in the midst of cleaning out a flat-bottom bin that had canola in it this past winter.
"Oh wow, right on, that's amazing," was Groening's response when we called him with the good news. "I think we'll find a spot for it. A hopper bin is a little easier to clean out than flat."
The farm is located a couple miles south of Kane, with most of the family's land between the yard site and Highway 23. Mitchell, along with his wife and four children, live there.
"We grow Fall rye, wheat, oats, canola, soybeans and corn, a little bit of everything," he said. "(It's a) family farm we took over from my in-laws, and been in the family for 100 years. My side of the family has also been around in this area for over 100 years, so it's cool to carry on the legacy. I was always in there like a like a dirty glove, I guess you'd say. We grew up more with cattle and hay, and now it kind of transitioned into the grain farming side of it, so we have experience with a little bit of everything. Lots to enjoy no matter what you do."
Groening family continuing a farming legacy
Between the two families there is more than 200 hundred years of family farming combined, and Mitchell is continuing that tradition with his children.
"There's lots of teaching opportunities that come up every day, if you take advantage of them," said Mitchell. "Our oldest is ten. They're all just kind of getting into what it means to be a farmer, and what it means to work hard every day. Hopefully we can model that, and they can carry on with whatever, whether it's farming or not."
Going back to Mayor Siemens, who didn't come from a farm family but married into one, and a closing thought we felt summed up the Farmer Appreciation Lunch.
"I recognize the risk taken every single year, " he said. "You put that seed in the ground, and a lot of things have to go right in order for a crop to come from that seed. Every single year we have so many farmers in Southern Manitoba that do exactly that. They put the seed in the ground, and do all of the other work that needs to happen, with the hope at the other end, they're going to be able to take a crop off, and they're going to be able to help feed the world. It's exactly what we need, and it's gratifying to see that."
Perfectly said.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Farmer Appreciation Lunch, and again, congratulations to Mitchell Groening on winning the bin from Meridian Manufacturing.
- With files from Jayme Giesbrecht, Ty Hildebrand and Connie Bailey -
You can listen to our entire conversation with Mitchell, below.
