When six members of the Evangelical Covenant Church congregation traveled to New Orleans to help rebuild houses several years ago, Jim Sundholm, then executive director of Covenant World Relief, challenged them to consider an agriculture project that would help them raise money for missions in their community or somewhere else in the world.
The church’s board chair, Neil Watson, championed the cause. He got his in-laws to allow him to use five acres of their land to plant corn, estimating the land would hold about 150 rows of corn. The congregation purchased a row at five dollars each to cover the cost of the seed, the fertilizer and weed management.
Watson planted the crop, a friend volunteered to spray it, and Gary Lawton, another church member, harvested the field. Millard member Fred Lawton, who owns Badger Grain in Darien, contracted with the church to purchase the crop.
Regularly posted photographs kept the congregation informed of the progress. The field produced an “over the top” yield of 224 bushels to the acre.
When the project began, the congregation was hoping to raise $3,000 to give to the Elkhorn Food Pantry. Because the crop yield was so high and the corn did not have to be dried, the church was able to present the local food pantry with a check for more than $5,800.
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