Church Crews Raise Money Covering Silage Stacks

Church Crews Raise Money Covering Silage Stacks CROP STORAGE Miscellaneous “Covering silage piles is a lot of hard work but it has been a great way to get to know other church members and we’ve definitely raised a lot of money for our Christian Education committee ” says Wade Vanden Berg a member of Bethel Christian Reformed Church Sioux Center Iowa Vanden Berg heads up a fundraiser subcommittee that coordinates covering silage piles with plastic tarps and tires for area farmers in exchange for a donation to the church’s education fund In 2013 covering silage piles helped raise more than $51 000 “We’ve got a lot of cattle feeders and dairies in the area so there are many silage piles that need covering ” Vanden Berg says The farmer/customer is responsible for supplying the tarp tires and machinery The church provides the manpower which varies from 6 people for a small pile up to 100 workers for a really big pile “It takes 80 to 100 workers 4 hrs to cover a 70 000-ton pile of silage which is the largest job we’ve tackled ” he says The size of the crew is determined by the dimension of the pile and the number of tons in the pile Crews are organized via email using addresses from the church newsletter mailing list Crews consist of men women and youth married and singles old and young Volunteers are advised to wear jeans long-sleeved shirts gloves and tennis shoes or work boots New business comes mostly through word-of-mouth among farmer-customers custom silage-cutting operators and local veterinarians Most piles are located within 25 miles of the church but crews have covered piles as far as 60 miles away Suggested donation amounts are based on silage-pile volume A higher rate is charged for piles that require double tarping which provides better weather protection but is also more labor intensive “Most customers pay the suggested amount or even more than the suggested amount ” Vanden Berg says “In the rare instance where a farmer doesn’t pay we move him to the bottom of the list for next year ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Bethel Christian Reformed Church 314 S Main St Sioux Center Iowa 51250 ph 712 722-3101; www bethelsc org

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