Prairie Belle steals the show

[Oscar]

Quill Lake growing project nets 27,000 bushels - Prairie Belle star of the show

By Anne Sanderson - October 17, 2007

Nick Parson's beloved Prairie Belle is back in the spotlight again, after successfully completing the first leg of her next mission.

Last Wednesday, Prairie Belle, a 1980 Massey Ferguson 860 combine, spent about eight hours in the field, as one of seven combines helping to harvest the Big Quill Community Growing Project at Quill Lake.

With rain expected overnight the participants were understandably relieved when they were able to successfully finish both fields and haul in about 27,000 bushels of grain.

The proceeds of the crop will allow the community to make their annual donation to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

Although a far cry from the notoriety Prairie Belle received when she travelled across the country in 2000 to bring attention to the plight of the agricultural sector, her continued popularity was evidenced by the small crowd of fans who came out to witness her maiden voyage.

The excitement began around lunchtime when farm equipment and spectators began to trickle in. The Western Producer had even sent out a reporter and the Wadena News was also in attendance to record the historic moment.

As has become the tradition, Quill Lake's red carpet was well prepared for another workout by the time the guests began to arrive. In addition to warm coffee and hot chocolate, helpers and onlookers were rewarded with a hot lunch consisting of barbecued hamburgers. Of course, with Helen Humenny and Linda Thibault in charge of the lunch, and a generous community behind them, the hospitality certainly did not end there. In addition to a variety of baked goods to tempt guests throughout the afternoon, a bountiful supper of homemade stew and salads was already waiting in the trailer by the time the supper crowd arrived.

When the combines roared into action shortly before 1 p.m. the sound was music to the ears of key co-ordinator Mike Humenny. After rain dashed all hopes of combining the crop on Tuesday, he had begun to seriously wonder whether it was going to be a repeat of 2006. Last year, the day the volunteer combine fleet was supposed to show up, the crop was hit with a freezing rain that ended up delaying harvest until this spring.

Fortunately, Mother Nature was on his side and a brisk wind Tuesday evening and into Wednesday dried the crop enough to combine. The decent weather was boosted with the support of number of neighbours, who although they still had a long list of their own work to do, stopped long enough to offer the support that was needed.

It was Chris Armstrong who had the honour of rolling Prairie Belle into the field of oats. Perched on the seat beside the myriad of fridge magnets marking the destinations of Nick Parsons' journey to Ottawa, he too had an important job. In addition to keeping the Massey Ferguson 860 on the swath, he had to maneuver through the crowd of spectators intent on taking a photograph to mark the special occasion.

Off to the side now-retired Massey Ferguson dealer Tom Morton fielded interviews from curious reporters. Sporting his original Massey Ferguson dealer pin, Morton had cruised to the field in his immaculate 1964 Meteor Convertible that he purchased at an auction sale from the car's first owner Ernie Butler. Being a former salesman it was perhaps not that surprising that Morton even had a story to go with the car. Apparently when Butler bought the car in Dec. 1964 it cost him two carloads of malting barley. Little did he know that many years later Morton would become its new owner after raising his hand for the final bid of a mere $1,500.

While Morton handled public relations, the combine crew did their best to make quick work of the first field, a crop of oats. This year spectators especially enjoyed comparing the wide array of equipment. In addition to Prairie Belle, Simon Gardiner had brought his 9600 John Deere. Mike Humenny was behind the wheel of a 1682 Case International and Ed Cooper drove a 1688. Farm World out of Humboldt had brought a New Holland CR9070 and Humboldt Farm Equipment a 9860 STS. Last but not least was Prairie Belle's competition a 7010 Case International driven by Lorne Pratchler of Hergott Farm Equipment, Humboldt.

Morton said he could hardly believe his ears when he heard the latter would sell for about $380,000. He owned his dealership from 1950 to 1970 and the last combine sold was about $12,000.

"Nowadays the machines have a lot more bells and whistles than they had back then," Morton told The News. "Those extras are nice but you really don't need them. Besides, they are awfully expensive to fix when they break down."

With seven combines in the field it didn't take long for the truckers to get their first load. Providing their trucking units were Doug Ingram, Ron Korolchuk and Binsfield Transport. Humenny says the latter provided two Super B's and stayed right until the last bushel had been hauled in.

Humenny also noted the project would not have gone nearly as well if it were not for the generosity of the members of the Quill Lake Colony. In addition to helping swath the crop, they provided their big John Deere grain cart, which Head Co-ordinator Brent Lowes used to bring the crop to the trucks. This saved a huge amount of time and undoubtedly avoided a few traffic jams as the field was literally packed with farm equipment.

Despite her age Prairie Belle held on right until the end needing only minor adjustments to a belt midway through the afternoon. She will now be given the winter to hibernate and regain the energy needed to combine next year's crop. In the meantime Humenny has no doubt given Prairie Belle's previous owner Nick Parsons an update as to how the harvest went. Humenny says he talks to Parsons almost weekly and the two have struck up quite a friendship. If all goes well it is expected Prairie Belle will continue to bring publicity to the Quill Lake project for the next several years, which will aid a great deal in garnering support.

Wadena News, Oct. 17, 2007