The Churchmen at Scandian Grove are growing to help others
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 08/09/2010 3:29 PM
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ST. PETER — A beautiful field of wheat just outside Norseland is destined to become seed money for farmers across the ocean.
For the past four years, The Churchmen of Scandian Grove Lutheran Church have raised a crop and donated the proceeds to projects around the globe that help people learn to feed themselves. The majority of the proceeds from their growing projects have went to the Foods Resource Bank, which works with 15 of the mainline Christian denominations or their agencies to provide resources to food programs in some of the world's poorest communities, according to the FRB web site.
The Churchmen of Scandian Grove have donated $20,180 to the Foods Resource Bank since they began growing projects in 2007, said Charles Johnson, treasurer of The Churchmen.
They select programs they want to support from a long list sent to them, said Don Hermanson, a member of The Churchmen.
Churchmen member Doug Schultz first broached the idea of growing a crop and donating the proceeds after coming across an article on a Foods Resource Bank project in Iowa in The Lutheran Magazine. The Churchmen of Scandian Grove used to tend a plot on the church property, donating their time and the proceeds to the church, he said.
Fellow Churchmen were skeptical of the idea. Who would provide the land? If they secured land, how would it impact Farm Service Agency records? How would it impact export markets?
In time, however, The Churchmen warmed to Schultz's idea. About half of the group work on the project. They planted soybeans and wheat their first year. In the following years, they have sown soybeans, wheat and wheat.
The landowner suggests what the group grow on the land that is donated. This year, Peter and Karri Anderson donated 25 acres of land. Hubert Anderson, 89, tilled the land. Schultz planted the wheat on April 15. The seed was donated by Anderson Seeds and David Hermanson. Norell Brothers will harvest the wheat.
"Wheat's not the highest profit crop," Schultz said, but it does have lower input costs and the work is done off season for corn and soybean producers. Also, it works well for farmers who are looking for a third crop. Wheat also provides straw, a co-product to sell.
In 2007 and 2008, churches in St. Peter gave donations toward the project, Schultz said. A secondary goal of Foods Resource Bank projects is strengthening the bond between rural and urban churches in the United States. The Churchmen of Scandian Grove are looking for urban partners to contribute to the project. Financial contributions will be used to pay for input costs and harvesting costs.
They added 40 pounds of urea to the wheat field, Schultz said, taking credit for 40 pounds of nitrogen from the previous soybean crop.
Farmers donate their time to plant, tend and harvest the crop, submitting minimal bills for expenses, Schultz said.
In 2007 and 2008, they called the churches that contributed when they were going to harvest, inviting them to come ride in the combine, but no one came.
Schultz said every $1 they give to a project that teaches someone to grow food is worth $4 given in food, plus they give people the dignity of raising their own food. Sending food is problematic because it may spoil before it gets to the intended recipients or it may never reach them.
Some of the land in the countries where FRB money is targeted may be more fertile than theirs in south central Minnesota, but the people lack the skills to raise food, Schultz said.
Teaching people to raise their own food is important, he said, citing a statistic he's heard that farmers will have to produce in the next 40 years an amount of food equal to all the food that's been produced until now. Farmers will have to do it with fewer farmers, less land, less water, less fuel and less fertilizer.