Using the art of plowing with antique farming equipment, a series of farmers and team drivers seeded five acres of oats over the weekend in a Farming with Horses demonstration. The event took place on the Pohl Farm, north of Ponoka.
The autumn profits of the field will be given to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Owner Ken Pohl was involved with Farming with Horses in southern Alberta last year, and after coming back from thrashing with his wife Verna, he decided to bring the event to central Alberta.
“I said to her ‘we’re going to do this on our farm’,” said Pohl.
“It was so neat to see how the people really enjoyed watching the horse drawn equipment,” he added.
Pohl had been involved with the Foodgrains Bank in the past and knew a field working in conjunction with the one south of town would be appreciated. “I thought that would be a nice little extra twist.
In the fall, Pohl will sell the oats, targeting equine owners, and the proceeds will be donated to the Foodgrains Bank. As with the field south of town, each dollar donated is matched in a four to one ratio by the federal government.
The equipment used during Farming with Horses included sulkey plows, walk behind plows, disks and harrows. Pohl says this kind of equipment was at its prime use 40 to 50 years ago.
“Modern equipment would do this in minutes,” said Pohl, referring to the five-acre field.