The Kindersley Threshing Club is holding its annual seeding event next week.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Members of the Kindersley Antique Threshing Club will be back in the field next Friday to show people how crops were seeded in the area a century ago.
The club’s annual vintage seeding and tilling demonstration takes place on June 15 at the Kindersley and District Plains Museum.
The demonstration is on land to the west of the museum’s compound and the seeding is anticipated to start at 11 a.m.
People could access the property at the main entrance of the museum. There will be food sold on site and although there are bleachers on the north side of the field, people could also bring their own folding chairs. There will be transportation in the field for people who have trouble with mobility.
This year marks the fourth year the club has seeded a crop and the third year for the club at the museum grounds. Land is donated to the club and all proceeds from the harvest support the Kindersley and District Health and Wellness Foundation.
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Lionel Story, a club member and spokesperson for the event, said he will be seeding a portion of the field using his horses and a 1914 hoe drill. Horses are used for all aspects of the seeding and tilling demonstration.
Teams of horses till the land and pull a cart containing the seed. Volunteers including Story will load the seed into the vintage hoe drill by hand using buckets. Other teams of horses are often hooked up to wagons to give people rides around the field.
The threshing club is growing oats again for the third year in a row. Members of the club return in the fall to harvest the crops using vintage threshers and other antique farm machinery such as combines from the 1960s and 1970s.
Grade 3 students from Westberry Elementary School attend the seeding and tilling demonstration each year. The students participate in a program under Agriculture in the Classroom known as a Burger and Fries Farm, so they learn where the food comes from to make a hamburger and fries with toppings and condiments.
Story said there will be more students at the event this year because Grade 3 students from other schools in the area are going to attend. The student participation is why the seeding demo is on a Friday. The harvest demo in the fall is always held on a Saturday.
“It’s great to see all those kids come,” Story said, recognizing that he is excited for the event and the main purpose is for students to learn where their food comes from. “Hopefully they take something away from it.”
The students also get to see the horses and the vintage hoe drill in action. The students will be attending the event in two groups to make it more manageable for the Burger and Fries Farm. The spokesperson said the demonstration could run until 3 p.m.
Story said Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is getting involved this year, so staff from FCC will be helping with the barbecue and various other aspects of the event. Saskatchewan Agriculture and local agriculture retailers have helped in the past. G-Mac’s AgTeam Inc. is even bringing ice cream at the event, he added.
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