There was never a dull moment during the 12-day trip from Dawson Creek, B.C. to Victoria, said a Farmington, B.C. farmer who drove the whole way in his combine.
“You know, I cannot remember yawning once all the way down, so I couldn’t have been bored. I was concentrating on the road and there were always people honking and waving,” said Nick Parsons.
“It was the trip of a lifetime for me,” said Parsons, who drove his Massey Ferguson combine 1,300 kilometres through mountainous terrain from Dawson Creek to Victoria, to raise awareness of Peace country farmers who have been unable to harvest a crop because of two years of wet weather.
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Help all farmers
“I did this for the whole Peace country, not just B.C., and I did it for other farmers in B.C. suffering as we are.”
The most treacherous stretch of highway along his route was over the snowy mountain pass by Lillooet. From there he drove to Whistler and south to Squamish to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island.
On the Island, a retired Alberta farmer escorted Parsons into the province’s capital.
The combine was parked in front of British Columbia’s legislature buildings for two days while other Peace country farmers met with provincial agriculture minister Corky Evans.
The farmers want the government to come up with some sort of assistance to help them pay their bills.
