Harvest occurs to Grow the Ice Plant in Vermilion

After a true community effort, the wheat in Vermilion to Grow the Ice Plant has been harvested.

The Vermilion Curling Club organized a fundraiser for the new ice plant. Last year they planted and harvested a crop east of Vermilion. This year they’ve planted and have harvested a different crop north of Vermilion. That crop is wheat. About 70 acres of it to be exact.

Arthur C. Green/Lakeland Connect

On Friday, September 10, Rocky Mountain Equipment and Ireland Farm Equipment had their combines out at the field to harvest the crop from the donated land.

Local Vermilion business owner Shawn Jacula. Arthur C. Green/Lakeland Connect

Local Vermilion business owner Shawn Jacula is the owner of the donated land, and was in attendance on Friday to watch the harvest.

“My family made the decision to donate 70 acres of land here to help with the fundraising required for the ice plant in Vermillion, the curling rink and hockey rink in that facility has been a meeting point for our families for many years,” Jacula told Lakeland Connect. “We just want to make sure to do what we could to see it continue.”

Jacula says this year the yields aren’t all that great, but if the harvest gets 40 bushels per acre and If it’s a good quality, you can sell it for $11 a bushel which will present over $30,000 to the fundraising effort.

“I think it’s just great to see the community support this and it wouldn’t be possible without, you know the AEG inputs, everything was donated so from the seed to the equipment taking the crop off,” Jacula said. “It truly was a community effort for sure.”

Arthur@lakelandconnect.thedev.ca