How a rural school raised $30,000 through a corporate farm deal

A primary school has raised $30,000 for IT and play equipment by partnering with a major cropping company.

Mingenew Primary School in Western Australia has raised $30,000 for IT and play equipment through a partnership with a major cropping company.

Mingenew PS parents and citizens association president Hellene McTaggart said the school, which has just 77 students, was fortunate to have access to 22 hectares of farmland, donated by a local family. A corporate cropping company, Daybreak Cropping, provided the “huge and generous contribution” of farming the land to raise funds for the school.

Daybreak Cropping harvesting wheat for Mingenew Primary School. Picture: Paul Flanders

“I think Daybreak is a really good example of a way in which corporate farms can make a huge difference to the communities they live in,” Ms McTaggart said.

“We have a huge volunteer shortage over here. Our population has decreased significantly even since the (19)90s.

“There are something like 34 different volunteer groups in our small community, and we had at the last census just over 400 people … so we are stretched in our volunteer capacities.”

When Daybreak Cropping bought the 22,000ha Erregulla Plains property in Mingenew in 2020, the company agreed to continue managing the school crop — an arrangement the former Erregulla owners, S & C Smart, had with the school.

Mingenew Primary School students. Picture: Supplied/Tayna Grantham

The 22ha block, which runs between the school and the Erregulla Plains property, was donated to the children of Mingenew in 1959 by local woman Mrs Temple Russell.

This year the wheat crop yielded an impressive 3.8t/ha.

Mingenew Primary School principal Tayna Grantham said the $30,000 raised annually from the crop made a big difference to the rural school. In the past it had funded iPads, e-boards, a nature playground and shade shelters for the students.

“It means that we’re able to work in partnership with the P & C and plan ahead … ensuring that (students) receive the same access to quality education, regardless of our regional location,” she said.