All language subtitles for From.Seed.To.Seed.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]-eng

NARRATOR: My passion
for growing healthy food

led me to Terry Mierau
and Monique Scholte

of Cedar Lane farm.

TERRY: Come by, come

NARRATOR: Through a
year of filming their farm

and community life
from seed to seed,

I learned about the
daily pleasures, successes,

and sometimes
overwhelming challenges

that their chosen way
of life can bring.

During this epic year, I talked
with academics and activists

and visited farms
of various sizes

to show that farming
without chemicals

can produce plenty of good food,
on any scale and over time.

(music)

TERRY: The big guy is our boar.

This is Gunter, Gunter.

I grew up wanting
to be a farmer,

that's what I wanted to do.

I loved it.

I was told that
it wasn't possible.

Your dad doesn't have land.

You can't be a farmer.

Getting in wasn't an option if you weren't
already in, if you couldn't inherit.

MONIQUE: Oh guys, we have to
come up with a name yet for him.

TERRY: And in the meantime,

what I realized is you
don't have to inherit land

and that you don't need
1,600 or 5,000 or 10,000 acres

in order to farm.

That's one mentality
of what farming is

and it's one kind of farming.

Magnus Where is Elliot,

the one that just
rammed through the door?

He's there, he's got horns. Hey, Elliot!

And it was in New Brunswick

that I was introduced to
the idea of direct marketing,

farmer's markets,
getting completely away

from that commodity
style of agriculture

that I grew up with that I
thought that's all there was,

but just to produce
food for someone's table

and to be paid for the
food that they want to eat in

the same way that the grocery
store would have been paid for.

So, I'm Terry Mierau and
my family is on this place,

Monique, my wife,
and our three children,

Isabel, and Peter, and Hayne.

Besides the five of us,
we've got about a dozen cattle.

Well, Wilhelmina is our Jersey,

Colby is the new
mom just last week.

and we've got pigs
there's Tina, the sow,

and there's Molly, the sow,
chickens, sheep, and lambs.

My co-pilot is Dirk,
he's a Border Collie,

he's kind of my number one.

Monique and I met in Amsterdam

because we both were in a
studio program for opera,

we were both opera singers.

It's huge part of who we are.

(music & singing)

We lived in quite
remote in New Brunswick

so kind of in the
middle of the woods

with not a lot of
people around us.

We'd little kids so we knew we
needed some kind of community.

This is still a single street village.

There're still a number of house barns

and when I realized they were
still house barns down here,

I thought the way that we farm,

the way that we live,

a house barn is
actually perfect for us,

because of the
scale of what we do,

because of the
variety of what we do,

and we farm fairly
similar to the way that

the Mennonites were
farming here 100 years ago

So, the house barn
was a perfect fit,

the village was a perfect fit,

it's a Mennonite village,
I'm Mennonite.

There're some really interesting
people in the village.

So, we have here
37 acres in total,

a long narrow piece of land.

We do a lot of vegetables,
small amounts of small grains,

potato breeding

For the most part, farmers were
selecting their seeds for ever.

That's what we do.

I think it's one of
the most important things

to come out in the
last 10, 15, 20 years,

emphasis on farmers taking
that responsibility back.

(music)

The revolution in farmer
participatory plant breeding,

the revolution is that
farmers are plant breeding.

I think that genetics, whether we're
talking about plant genetics

or animal genetics belong
to people, to the people.

That hasn't been the direction
that things have been going

in the last two generations.

Those things are starting
to become proprietary.

Somebody owns those genetics,
and I have issue with that.

NARRATION: Seed
security is a global issue

and there are experts all over
the world and here in Manitoba.

When the famous
environmental activist,

Vandana Shiva was in town,

I asked her about the
importance of farmers

participating in Plant Breeding

and the impact of Climate Change

Farmers have always
been the breeders

from whom we've received
the tremendous diversity

that is the basis
of our food security.

Its only in recent times

that they've been
eclipsed as breeders.

The system of breeding
in response to chemicals

is very, very
vulnerable to climate change

because uniformity
has zero resilience.

DR. MARTIN ENTZ: My
name is Martin Entz,

I'm a professor in Plant Science
at the University of Manitoba.

I was always interested
in organic agriculture.

We started with this
place demonstrating to us

that this is possible,

showing us where we need to be intelligent

and we need to design a
sustainable organic system

and then of course the
next step is the varieties,

which we're now working
together with farmers

on through the participatory program.

We have an example of one
of the participatory farmers.

Its Terry and Monique
in Southern Manitoba

(music)

TERRY: I went and was visiting

with Martin Entz
and Martin said:

I think I want to ask you
to be our potato breeder.

And I said: Martin, we do
a little bit of everything,

I don't think we're
who you want for this.

And he said: You
don't understand,

you're exactly who
we want for this.

MARTIN: The trick is
that farmers need access

to this diversity and that's
what plant breeding does.

You make crosses and
you have all these babies

and they're highly diverse.

That's a very different
future for agriculture

than the one that we're told,
we have to accept.

We don't need to
have agriculture

just controlled by a few.

MONIQUE SCHOLTE: I think we
have this right to clean air,

growing our own food,

seeds and water and those are
such basic human rights to me.

So, this is my humble,
little mini seed library,

which hopefully in the
years will just get bigger.

It's always that moment
of hope for spring to come

of things to grow again.

I think the Seedy Saturday
for me kind of gets me excited

to think I'm part
of a bigger thing.

This is my mini
part of the bigger part

of what happens out there

(music)

MONIQUE: For me, right now,

the thought of seeds
bringing people together

from various places
and backgrounds

and our sharing those seeds

and our sharing the food
that those seeds have produced

is quite lovely.

We now have in
Altona Syrian families

and they came to
the Seedy Saturday

and they brought some seeds
all the way from Syria.

I didn't want to take
too many of their seeds

because I was so worried;

here they make all this
effort to bring them.

Okay, it's a
type of basil, sure.

So, I took some basil,
Syrian basil

because it looks
different to me.

I come to seeds from
the angle of food.

I'm a big foodie.

I love people
sitting down to eat.

I think that's probably
my favorite past time,

getting people at
my kitchen table,

sharing stories of eating.

TERRY: I think the idea of
a village working together

can actually speak quite loudly

to the future of how
important it remains

that we live as communities.

(music)

TERRY: Monique and I
write a weekly farm update

to our food community.

MONIQUE: It's a bit of
a crazy week at the farm,

just a lot of
different things happening.

We are pretty excited to
announce our milking machine

from Wisconsin.

Terry has fought of
this idea for a long time

and he probably will still
milk by hand sometimes.

TERRY: I really
love hand milking.

It's gotten to be
kind of hard on my hands

as my arms was the problem

and it does take more time,

but the one thing that you don't
get with the machine is this,

this, me and her and
I do miss that part.

Hey, Willie?

You're wondering
where that machine is.

MONIQUE: When we moved
from New Brunswick to Manitoba,

we came to realize
that different breeds

do well in different climates.

That is why we have started
adding the Canadienne breed

to our Jersey heard.

The Vache
Canadienne are a hearty

but also more
wild heritage breed.

TERRY: Taking my
life into my hands

to sit down beside
her and milk her.

With this breed, I found that
they bond way too strong.

If I let the calf suck,

she will never let
me have a drop of milk.

By taking the calf away,

I teach the momma that
I am actually her calf.

So, she will give me the milk

and then I give the
calf as much as it needs.

I've probably fed her
maybe eight times now,

seven times and so she
already comes right to me.

MONIQUE: While bottle feeding
he pushes on her head

and scratching her back

mimicking what the mother
would do

The cows need
milking every 12 hours

and the milking machine
helps to save precious time

during the month of April.

This is when Terry is
busy with opera rehearsals

and performing in Winnipeg.

He had a costume
fitting yesterday

and told me laughingly

that they should have just asked
him to wear his farm clothes.

TERRY: It's wonderful to be able
to be part of the arts again

and to scratch
that side of my brain.

I spend a long time
studying and training

and a long time performing.

How I philosophically think
about both farming and singing;

that balance for me is,

10 minutes ago I was on stage
and sang and it's gone, now.

Once the song is over,
it's gone,

except for a memory of it,
but its, its gone.

With farming, everything
is kind of forever.

(music)

What's, I think, great
about being kind of an artist,

musician, is that in
looking at agriculture

you see the artistic
side of what's going on,

the cultural side of what's
going on in agriculture,

to see it as something that is
quite beautiful and malleable.

A farm is kind of like a
block of clay in that way.

Easy, easy, easy.

Plan for this year,
too large extend,

it's the same as every year,
it's all just a cycle.

MONIQUE: We're on
the last legs of hay

for cattle, cows, and sheep,

always a little worrying if
the grass will grow fast enough

to feed them soon.

We ate our first
spinach salad last night.

The spinach reseeded from fall
got covered underneath straw

and a frost blanket.

It made it to spring. Yum!

Hope the weather stays this way

and soon we can start
sowing some in the garden.

TERRY: So, there's all
kinds of things in here,

but it's those critters
and all of that stuff

that's what ends up
feeding the plants.

And it's those earthworms,
it's their excrement

and it's their - when
they die - it's their bodies,

and the soil has
got to be alive.

That's I think where
fertility comes from.

TERRY: This different
kind of farming

that we're all involved in,

we've gotten really good
at sort of coming together

and doing like
conferences together

and workshops and I think
that's really, really great.

It is not a substitute
for a neighbor.

(music)

JONAH: My name
is Jonah Langelotz

and I am 23 years old,
and I am, in some ways,

I still struggle with this,
and I'd like to be a farmer.

I currently work as part of the
Metanoia Farmers Workers Club

and I really enjoy the
variety of work and all the

different opportunities
that come with that.

TERRY: The Metanoia Farmers
are a group of students

and alumni from Canadian
Mennonite University,

who grow organic
food at CMU farm

and on a piece of
land in Neubergthal

JONAH: Oh, we're
getting more manure.

MONIQUE: Yeah, but
are the sheep in there?

JONAH: No, Terry
just moved them, I think.

We just had an
ongoing relationship

with Terry and Monique Mierau,

from when the moved
from out East to Manitoba.

They've always been
very welcoming and open

with using some of their land.

And I was talking
with Terry about this,

but I'll be raising
some pigs and chickens

and he'll be a
big support in this

because I don't
have much experience.

So this is home for the
next four or five months.

Until the middle of
October I expect to be here.

Finishing up
looking after crops,

and then also butchering.

DR. IAN MAURO: There's
this huge amount of interest

amongst young people to engage
in the process of growing food,

because agriculture is
such an exciting space

to actually practice the
principals of sustainability.

That is a very
powerful space for people

to express their desire
to see a better world.

It's so cool to see.

(music)

DR. MARTIN ENTZ: We still
have a lot of scientists

who are not really
buying into anything,

but the biotech message,
but it's growing.

There is a real momentum
in organic agriculture

that's building and it's
coming from different places.

It's certainly coming
from many Canadian citizens

who want to buy
organic products.

Farmers are interested,
not all farmers,

but one of the messages
that I give is that,

you know, don't convert
your whole farm to organic,

just convert a portion.

And that really
resonates with farmers.

We've seen a lot of real
success stories like that.

(music)

WAYNE REMPEL: When we first
got into organics, we thought,

well, we're going to have to go
back 50 years with technology

and do it the
way grandpa did it,

but it turns out that
it's exactly the opposite.

It's way more sophisticated
and technologically advanced

than conventional farming is.

We had to think
ahead and plan ahead

what we wanted to do,
whereas conventional farming

it can easily be reactive.

You have got a pest,
you spray for it.

You have a lack of nutrients,
you put some fertilizer on,

but we certainly don't
have those options in organics

and we have to come up with
a solution a year or two

before where the
problem happens.

We've hired more agronomists,

and we've just been blown away

by the science of
what happens in the soil.

The soil here is what's very
important for organic production,

and you can see the fibrous
roots in here, it's fantastic.

DR. MARTIN ENTZ: You know,
it takes away all that tension.

It's not like organic
versus conventional.

It's like, well we do both,

and we're actually
learning in the organic sector

how to deal with
problems that we used to think

we only needed pesticides for.

So, there's all kinds of
progress to be made there.

DR. IAN MAURO: You've got an
incredible amount of diversity

in terms of the way in
which agriculture is practiced.

We've seen a lot of
farmers kind of jump on

to this technology
treadmill and, you know,

getting bigger and faster and
not necessarily going anywhere.

Oh, wait a second, I'm not
making my land more fertile

and maybe I'm
depleting the nutrients.

I want to step off
of this treadmill.

I want to do
something different.

(music)

ANDREW GRANGER: Hi, my
name is Andrew Granger,

my daughter Hanna, and
my partner Jared Puhach.

We started, possibly transitioning,

and we are going to
transition some land

starting with 125 acres.

I went to Edmonton in December
to the Soil Health Workshop.

Health, right, soil health,
human health,

two huge reasons right there.

I mean it just seems
like there's more cancers

and disease today
as far more rampant.

JARED PUHACH: When Andrew said
the main reason why is health,

is exactly why.

We both have young families.

I have three
little girls at home.

Andrew has two girls at home.

We want our farms to
outlive us and outlive our kids.

HANNA: When they came
home from the conference

I was pumped to help out,
because the healthy environment

has always been a big thing for me.

ANDREW GRANGER: The thought
was to have Jared, my partner,

with the cattle, come on to
the land after we get it sowed

down to numerous
different species of plants

and then have the
cattle come through

and graze the land and fertilize

and hopefully gain
back some organic matter,

because of the piece
of land I'm considering

is very poor at best,

and it's pretty much a waste of
time conventional farming it.

JARED PUHACH: This land has been
long term cropped for decades,

but over the years
it's been slowly,

almost like the soil is dying.

So, in the middle of June
we're going to take this piece

sow it down to a cover crop

and it's going to
have about 20 species

of different seeds in it.

(music)

JARED PUHACH: We're going to
put compost tea on this dirt,

that will get the soil reactivated,

and then we can move forward
and start planting our crop.

ANDREW GRANGER: Yes, so the compost tea,

it's to help feed the
microbial life in the soil

because, you know,
I want to get away

from the synthetic
fertilizers, right,

I'm trying to, trying
my best to come away

from all that negative
soil application.

TERRY: Transitioning to organics
is a transition of mind-set.

Andrew is so motivated
to farm more naturally,

that he is
seeding non-GMO canola.

He is taking a risk here,
because Kocha, an invasive weed,

is a problem on this field

and spraying any
herbicide will kill both,

the weeds and non-GMO canola.

ANDREW GRANGER: All our
food is from the ground.

So, if we can make a better
ground to grow the produce on,

then the end result
would be healthier.

JARED PUHACH: Our neighbor, Ian Grossart,

he is an organic producer,

and we are kind of
following his footsteps

on how to transition
and move forward.

IAN GROSSART: My
name is Ian Grossart.

We're on our family farm.

We've been here since 1879.

We have an organic
grain and cattle farm.

The variety of wheat that
we're planting right now

are hard red spring varieties
used for making bread.

We have our own flour mills.

We make our own bread
with our own wheat,

so then Linda makes a really
good sour dough bread.

LINDA GROSSART: This is
our youngest son Zach.

He's going to university,
studying engineering

and helps out on
the farm in the summer.

IAN GROSSART: Kind
of nice to use our own

home grown ingredients, and
we know where it comes from,

and it is kind of nice
to sit down for a meal,

and be able to say
that most of the things

on the table were
produced on the farm.

We're just getting
ready to seed.

I got the drill set.

I'm just waiting for Zach,

he's just finishing the
last pass of cultivating here.

The big piece of organic farming

is trying to improve soil health.

We hear from organic farmers across Canada,

fertility and weed management

are a couple of
the biggest issues.

Hopefully we'll set
the weeds back enough

so the crop will
get out of the ground

and be able to
get ahead of them.

So, hopefully, we'll have
a good growing season.

(music)

TERRY: Community Shared
Agriculture or CSA -

has Members pre-pay for a season

to receive their weekly vegetable boxes

with produce from the farm.

I first started
hearing about CSAs

to take people's
money upfront and then say,

oh yeah, I know I promise,

I'll get you all
kinds of vegetables.

At that point, I didn't
feel like I wanted to try

and go through
four months of the year

sleeping every night,
knowing I had somebody's money

already spent and now, I have to
provide all these vegetables.

Now, with a bit more
years of experience

we decided that
we would do a CSA

for the first time

MONIQUE: This style of farming -
because it's so labor intensive -

there's a lot of
people that will say:

it's not possible, physically.

When we started, we were
so ready to just jump in,

the youthfulness of
just wanting to do it,

and then we got to a point
where we're realizing, okay,

this energy that we have isn't
going to last forever this way.

So, it's one thing to think
of making a farm sustainable,

but there has to
be sustainability

for the farmer doing it and I'm
so determined, I don't know why,

it's not the driving
force of everything,

but I'm so
determined to show that

it is actually very possible.

What we do is all about
growing healthy good food,

but growing a healthy family,
too, just as much.

In a sense, I don't think
I'm different from a scientist,

if I do my controlled
experiments on my farm,

and I have the
benefit I'm always here

and I always see it.

I think we need to give
simple farmers more credit for

seeing what they see all day.

TERRY: This is the fourth
year with these potatoes

from the participatory
plant breeding program.

Potatoes that we are breeding
here on our farm, for our farm.

We started off with a really
wide range of genetic material

and we've been
narrowing it down.

So this is after of course
seven months in the storage;

very firm still.

These are what we
call the queens potatoes.

So, these are,
they're delicious potato.

We're really happy
with it that way.

(music)

We're looking for a potato
that boils really well,

shape, size, vigor,
all of those things.

We always break ground - because
we don't have big tractors -

we break ground with pigs.

So, the pigs tear up
turf and work it all through

and then the next year, that's
where we plant potatoes.

So, one of the things that
we will be selecting for,

without doing it consciously,

is a potato that
likes to follow pigs.

Their manure has a certain
makeup, those are the nutrients

that will be most
prevalent in that soil.

The potatoes that
thrive on that those

are the ones you're
going to select.

What that does is
it gives you a potato

that is so specific to
this place, to how I do things,

how we do things on this farm.

So, it's soil specific,
it's site specific,

it's this bio region,

it's from this place,

and it needs pigs before it.

TERRY: I guess we
started with all Berkshire.

We have Berkshire sows and
then we had a Tamworth boar.

So, Tamworth is
known as a bacon pig

so it's a very long pig

and I really like the crossing

So, in that system,

you still need a Berkshire
boar every once in a while

to get your new sows.

On Sunday morning, we had
our friends from Flin Flon

come out with a guest, Big Jim.

So hopefully the
sleep over goes well

and we'll have some
piglets after three months,

three weeks, and three days.

Isn't that fun?

That's the gestation
period for sows.

Tina, Molly, skittish Big Jim,
came off the truck

and proceeded to
run through every fence

that he could possibly find.

My sense is that he thought
he was going to his end,

but it wasn't until he met
the three little pigs here,

that he realized, oh,
this isn't the end,

this is just the beginning.

This is going to be good.

Hi, Marie.

How are you doing girly?

That's that fence
thing we talked about,

you remember that?

We had this conversation?

The fence, when you touch it,
it really hurts.

And now you're
making a bad choice,

now you're making a bad choice.

I'm telling you
it's going to hurt.

Good choice.

Walk way, just walk away.

(music)

MONIQUE: It feels that
everything has to happen quick,

quick, quick, quick these days.

The working days
start at 7:00 a.m.

and finish around
10:00 p.m. at night.

That is just what this
time of the year means.

No need to feel sorry.

We still love it and not all
of the seasons are like this,

but it is for sure tiring.

We sleep well.

I've been transplanting
like a fiend

and watering seems to take
fair amount of time as well.

DR. IAN MAURO: When I see
farmers on the landscape,

whoever they are,
wherever they come from,

whatever practice
they are employing,

they are heroes to me.

The range of
skills that farmers have

and that is required to
actively farm and be a farmer:

it's absolutely inspiring.

(music)

MONIQUE: It's been so dry,
waiting for rain.

JONAH: We're here in Neubergthal

at the Metanoia farmers satellite location.

Last Saturday, I
planted the tomatoes

just under 500 of those,
which are on drip

and so they're kind of the only
crop that - at least right now -

that has some kind of
irrigation system, I guess.

Then, earlier this week,

I mulched all of
them with the straw

that we have lying around here.

The mulch protects the
plants from other weeds.

It also allows moisture
to stay in the soil.

Yeah, the potatoes
I was just working on

those have all sprung
up in the last week

and are looking pretty good.

TERRY: All summer, it's
make hay, make hay, make hay.

You got about 10 or 14
days to make enough feed

for about eight
months of the year.

First cut is
usually in early July,

second early August,

and then third cut is
any time in September.

This is going to be our fifth
season of haying in this farm.

The hay always comes ready,

whether the weather always gives
you the window to make the hay,

that's, that's another question.

DR. MARTIN ENTZ:
People sometimes remark,

wow, agriculture has been
so exciting in your career,

and I say, yeah, you know,

in my career we've gotten
rid of 60% of Canadian farmers,

like how is that successful.

The way agriculture
has organized itself

we've killed communities.

DR. IAN MAURO: We've
lost a tremendous amount

of farmers off the landscape.

It's not just people, it's
knowledge that is being lost.

If we lose all these mentorships
in place for young people

to connect with these farmers
who are so connected themselves,

that is a really
missed opportunity.

TERRY: So chickens don't
need anything, water even,

for the first three
days they can go.

That's why you can
buy chicks mail order

and they'll hatch them somewhere

and if they can send
them within 48 hours,

you can buy chicks in the mail.

All right, you little farts.

Dirk come. Come on.

Come on. Attaboy.

First one is always the easiest.

If they're looking
away from you, then you...

JONAH: And how should I hold it, just
like this? TERRY: Yeah, but below there

because then you
can hold on that way.

You got a nice
grip on them that way.

I always wonder: what are
these guys thinking right now?

Jake's gone. He just went
up into the air and he's gone.

(music)

JONAH: Happy housewarming.

Welcome home.

Hey piggies. You
know what that means.

That's right. Hey.

JONAH: So, this is Philip
and this is Miro and Thomas,

and then this is Basti,
yeah, and Masut and Manuh.

They're pretty cute
at least at this point.

Hopefully, that won't
be a problem when...

when I kill them.

You could use a
little more of that.

MONIQUE: Blessed rain.

It has been so dry.

On Wednesday, we had
a major weeding day

and the gardens
looked so amazing,

better than they had ever been.

(dramatic music)

Watch, its taking those
trees apart. Holy shit!

NOAH: It was pretty terrifying,

because there was
that much rain hitting,

and we'd just hear this
crack and this smash of a tree

against the ground and
then we just feel it boom,

the vibration.

MONIQUE: Our yard had probably
a dozen trees come down,

most on the fence lines,
one on the house.

From then on,
it's been scrambling,

running the generator
overnight to keep fences,

freezers, pumps, milking
machine, all of that going.

TERRY: So, this was a
hay wagon like that one

that's with the sows until
the plow wind came through.

So, it literally
just demolished it.

JONAH: The winds were, well, the
strongest I've ever seen before.

And, yeah, people
around the village

have been kind of
steadily cleaning up.

Tough to say how much rain,
but about an inch of rain

has the plants on
edge a little bit,

I would say, and pushes us back.

MONIQUE: Later in
the week, around 3 a.m.,

I woke up again to that rain

that just kept getting
stronger and stronger.

And then that 'pinging'
sound on the roof: Hail.

At that point I
just wanted to cry.

All those hours
tending seedlings,

preparing the garden, watering,
transplanting, weeding,

it's all at stake.

We had never seen this
much rain here in one go.

By the end of the morning,
it was over 3 inches.

All the water has now set back
the garden two to three weeks.

Needless to say, the
first box of veggies

is a little
smaller than hoped for.

Of course, there's
always one species

on our farm that is happy.

And this is the time
where we are waiting

for dry spell to start haying.

TERRY: It's a beautiful crop.

I mean it looks beautiful,
it's big, it's huge.

It's not a good time to cut,

because there's rain coming,

but there's so much rain coming
that I want to get it cut

because it's not about
first cut anymore now,

it's actually
about getting it off

so that we get a
good second cut.

It will be edible.
As every day goes on now,

the crop is actually diminishing
in nutritional value,

because it's over maturing,

but if we don't take it
we don't get second cut.

Second cut only comes
once you have first cut.

JONAH: Yeah, this is in lots
of ways a risky life choice

or way to get your
livelihood farming,

with weather and things that are
totally out of your control.

Bigger farmers, like
they have crop insurance

for lots of stuff, right,

like Terry and Monique
they don't have crop insurance.

So, I think living in a
village like this for example

is some kind of insurance

or having a good network
of friends and family,

a food community, like Terry
and Monique are building.

You have people
who care about you.

They're not going to let you
have a bad year in the same way.

Weather patterns are probably
going to only get more erratic

in the next number of years,
which is scary,

how do we cope with that?

Yeah, well we do it
at the community level,

because that's where
we have the most control

and where we can adapt.

(music)

ANDREW: A month ago, today,
we seeded a field of canola.

It eventually got choked
out by the weed Kocha

and there's no chemical
that will take it out

and it was a bit of a mistake.

I knew the field had some Kocha issue,

but I didn't think it
would be that big of an issue,

turned out it was and
we had to destroy it.

So, I'm pretty upset.

It's a big loss.

But I do need to make
money at the end of the day

to support my family.

So, that was a big
decision and a difficult one.

So, it's made me really think

about my choice
of transitioning.

I mean all farming is difficult,

but conventional is a lot
more forgiving than organic

in that you can fix a
mistake relatively easily.

I wished I'd set
myself up better

before I decided to transition,

but I was scared to go organic

and I think my fear
has kind of won in a way.

So, moving forward,
we're mixing a batch of a seed

that I've never
done before in my life,

and my daughter
Jessica helped me

and I even turned to her
at one point and I said,

I have no idea what I'm
doing and she said that's fine,

let's just do it.

IAN: That's probably the biggest
hurdle I had to overcome

was the confidence that yeah,

we could grow crops
without putting herbicides

and commercial
fertilizers on them.

With organic, you kind of need
more of a longer term strategy.

TERRY: So what Andrew is trying
to do with his cover crop mix

is to improve his soil
fertility in the same way

that Kroeker Farms has been
using cover crops successfully

in their organic production.

WAYNE REMPEL: We're standing
in a field for plow down.

Well, the fava beans and
peas of course are legumes,

which take nitrogen from the
air and put it into the soil.

So, it's extremely
important for food supply

for the future crops.

TERRY: A Plow down crop
is a diverse mix of plants

that are solely
grown to feed the soil

Kroeker farms grows 2 - 3
plow down crops in one season.

This large amount of plant
biomass needs to be shredded

and worked down
into the soil each time

to prepare a good seed bed
for the next plow down crop.

They are working with
Martin Entz and his team

to develop the
best plow down crops

to provide maximum fertility,

biomass and disease control
for their crop rotations.

This biomass also
helps to store carbon

from the atmosphere in the soil,

slowing the progress
of Climate Change.

WAYNE: So, our fields don't just
get a green manure plow down,

they also get compost spread
on it with large spreaders.

So, our compost source is
largely from cattle manure.

That biological activity that's
important in the compost,

there's millions and
millions of organisms

that work in the soil
that promote root health,

that convert nutrients that
are otherwise not available

to make them available,

in such a symbiotic
relationship in the soil

that this manure
compost does so well on.

DR. MARTIN ENTZ: I
always like to tell people

that organic systems can
produce high quality food

and lots of it.

They can produce that food with
fewer greenhouse gas emissions,

but that's only if attention
is paid to the whole system

DR. IAN MAURO: Martin Entz is
showing that this stuff works.

He's showing that you can have,
you know,

organic crop rotations
that are just as productive

as conventional crop rotations.

He's shown that it works over
time and it works over scale.

That is cutting edge
world class research

happening here in Manitoba
that absolutely demonstrates

that this stuff is
viable and it does work...

DR. MARTIN ENTZ: Here's a worm,
I got it, I got it.

(music)

TERRY: On June 16th
we started getting rain

and up until this last
week we hadn't had more

than two days without
rain for that six weeks,

seven weeks in there.

We were averaging 3
inches of rain per week.

So, since the 16th we've
had over 22 inches I think now.

We just haven't been able to
weed probably since mid-June,

you just can't get in.

The onions still
actually look okay.

The tomatoes are
better than it looks.

It's not as bad as it
looks for the tomatoes.

Those beds there are just
gone and there's nothing there,

barely anything.

but you know like
even these trees

that we've planted along here.

In other years, our biggest
concern with planting trees

is to keep them wet and
these are actually yellow

because they're too wet.

For trees, it's crazy.

Well, this is Jonah's first year,

a tough first year to
try to manage, you know,

it's 3 inches of
rain every week,

every week, another 3 inches,

another 3 inches
and it comes hard,

comes fast and he sees
the work over the last week

just kind of washed away or
carrots rotting in the ground,

that kind of thing

JONAH: It looks like
there's a storm of some sort

coming so rather than
harvesting in really wet soil

like I have done too
many times already this year,

I'm going to try
to beat it this time.

Yeah, it's been a
tough last couple of weeks,

specifically just not
feeling like I have a home

the Winnebago just hasn't cut it

...and that combined
with the mosquitoes,

the rain, the moisture,
it's all kind of added up

and it's really
finally kind of less, yeah,

water logged in the way, I
feel kind of heavy from that.

TERRY: My
relationship with Jonah

is that I want to
really encourage him

because, you know, I do
think that we need more people

farming on this kind of scale.

I have a deep affection for him
and at the same time I think,

maybe I'm encouraging
him to do something

that is a lifetime
of disappointment,

I don't know...

and I can't see myself
doing anything different.

JONAH: I've very intentionally
placed myself here

to be here more than
just as in 9 to 5 job,

and that idea that I
wanted to be rooted here

has been really good I think,

but just because of the
season that has presented

a lot more challenges
in the end...

to kind of stick it out and just
kind of tough it out a bit,

or do I need to kind of give in
a little bit to my own needs,

which I don't
really do very easily,

so I don't know, we'll see.

TERRY: This way of living has
a way of weeding out the people

who don't want to do it anyway,

and maybe over time he doesn't
and that's totally okay,

but he'll know that,
he'll know that he...

he hasn't done
any of it half-assed,

that's him, he's
going to try it.

I give him a lot
of respect for that.

We lost for sure 1400
bales that just rotted -

that just rotted in the swath,

because of the really
tough weather this season

we need to replace
a lot of feed now.

But when the swather ends up,

up to its axles in dirt
and you can't move any more

then it's really hard to cut.

Just feels like we've just
all season been clawing up

to where we want to be,

and we'd just about get there

and then rain comes and
knocks it all back again.

So, I wonder what everybody is
going to be eating all winter.

Another thunderstorm warning.

Let's see what happens tonight.

Get through tonight.

(music)

(thunder)

(music)

(thunder)

Mostly, what we're
losing is storage stuff

that we would sell
through the winter.

So, that's sort of a
chunk of our winter income.

Monique and I went
for a drive last week

and started
talking contingencies.

I don't see us getting
the hay we need now,

so I think we're going to
get rid of the sheep this fall.

We've got the least
invested in the sheep

in terms of the genetic
work that we've done,

and so we need to just sort of
rally around the genetic work

that we have been doing
with the Canadienne cattle

to make sure that
we can at least hold

what is really dear to us
in terms of the genetic work

and the handling
work that we've done

with training and making
that comfortable with us.

What this kind of a season does,

is it forces really big
issues in the coming decades,

and one is adaptability
and the other is versatility.

DR. IAN MAURO: As an interior
continental climate,

the Canadian
Prairies is actually

going to warm up faster
than the global average.

If we don't mitigate
greenhouse gases,

we don't get our carbon
emissions in check,

the types of crops that might be
grown here will have to change,

the cropping practices
will have to change,

water management
will have to change,

and this is a huge pressure
on these farm systems.

We haven't seen the
Armageddon the climate change

is likely to bring
and the trick is:

can we get ourselves to get
farming ready for that future?

DR. VANDANA SHIVA: So,
participatory farmers

breeding becomes
even more important

in times of climate change.

First, because evolution in the field

is the only way we'll be able

to deal with the
changes in the climate.

Evolution is on our side.

JONAH: We have share pickup,

and I'm harvesting
ahead of time,

because I can't do that
all tomorrow morning

before I drive to the city
with all the vegetables.

(music)

JEANETTE: Today, Jonah is
coming in from the village

and he's bringing in some of the stuff

that has been harvested there.

Our main goal here is the
community supported agriculture,

and developing a
community around the farm,

and connecting really
personally with our shares.

DR. IAN MAURO: If we're going
to have a healthy food system,

we need urban and rural
people coming together.

We need eaters and producers
in common conversation

about what kind of
food system we want.

JEANETTE: The Detroit Darks
are a little bit larger,

but the Candy Caine
ones are bit more fun.

You can dig through the pile
for whichever bunch you want.

SARAH ROCHE: We chose to come
here because we like to know
where our food comes from.

We like fresh organic food

and we're also big
supporters of local farmers.

JONAH: Most places don't
want to buy an onion

that looks like this

and that is full of soil
and a little muddy So,

harvest days end up
being long and busy

and sometimes a little
stressful because of it.

(music)

(music)

ANDREW: About three or
three and a half weeks ago,

we seeded the transition field,

which is just to the South here.

So, yeah, it's coming pretty good.

A lot of the seeds germinated

and are growing pretty nice right now,

but that's a crap shoot right,

you don't know what Mother
Nature is going to do to you.

So, you go with what
seems logical (laughing)

(music)

IAN GROSSART: Come on,
Cows, come on,

come on, There you go.

Check all the cows and calves
to make sure nobody is limping

(music)

MONIQUE: The sun is shining today

and we have 550 bales in the loft.

Not a lot, but it's a start.

At this point, it means we
are 2000 short give or take.

Second cut is still to come,
which is the milking hay.

Normally, we have had
a third cut as well,

but that will most
likely not happen this year.

Normal has a new
meaning this year.

TERRY: Hay needs to
dry enough for storage,

or it will get moldy,
or worse, catch on fire.

SHEILA FRIESEN: See, that's testing at 31,

that is too wet.

(music)

IAN: You never count in
anything in this business

until it's the bin and
you've got a market for it.

We took the sample up.

It's testing 14,
which for oats is dry.

I phoned Dad to tell
him that keep rolling

and he's already got
first hopper full.

So, let's go and dump that.

The plan for Grain Man is
not to have that combine stop.

ANDREW: And this is my
dad Jack, 79 years old,

He's doing all the
swathing this year

and so he's a huge
part of the program here

JACK GRANGER: Back to work.

ANDREW: So, the decision to
swath mostly due to the fact

that I don't believe
in glyphosate so much,

glyphosate is RoundUp®

especially spraying right
on the seed at harvest time.

When you desiccate you're
spraying it right on the plant

when it's fully mature.

So, there's an awfully good chance

some is getting on the seed.

I've kind of tried
to find a market

where there's,
glyphosate-free wheat,

and it doesn't exist,

and it would be
good if it would exist,

and reward the guys
that are maybe trying to,

not spray chemical on
their plants at harvest time.

Then, it would make it a
lot more viable for sure,

yeah, as it is now,
my wheat un-desiccated

is going into the same pit

and same bin as
everyone else's wheat,

and I'm not
going to say everyone
else's wheat is desiccated,

but there's a majority that is.

But yeah, 3,700 acres
for one person is plenty,

decisions every day like I got
to make a decision right now

on do I stay in that field

or do I move to a
different field,

move to canola.

If it stays windy, then we
could stay combining wheat.

I do have to make that
decision fairly quickly,

because I think the combines

are going to be stopped
right away so, (laughing)

and you don't want
combines stopped.

(music)

(music)

(music)

♪ Count me in darling I wanna know, ♪

♪ Do your plans carry me?, ♪

(music)

WAYNE: I'm standing here
in our organic hemp field

and this hemp is
probably about two weeks

or a week away from harvest.

This is used for seed,
for hemp hearts.

The hemp has been
a good crop for us

and so we typically
grow it after potatoes,

but one of the downsides it
requires a lot of nutrients.

After a hemp crop, it's
time for the restoration year,

and so we've put on compost,

and then we'll put on two
or three green manure crops

during the summer,

and get it re-established
for the next year

that's potatoes again.

The capacity of
this harvester is

we fill one of these trucks
with 35,000 pounds of potatoes,

gets filled in
less than 5 minutes

We generally had a
reasonably good crop

in spite of the excess
water that we had this summer.

Almost all our
fields are laser leveled

and have a drain tile in them

We want to be able to survive
4 inch rain without damage

and so that's what
we've been working for,

for probably 20 years.

(music)

TERRY: There's some really,

really good stuff
going on in the village.

Good mix of people historically,

whose families are from here,

sort of original inhabitants,

as well as people like
us who have moved in.

Makes for an
interesting group of people.

In 1874 the first
Mennonite settlers

arrived by boat from Russia.

The government provided land
to farm in Southern Manitoba.

They have preserved a lot
of their cultural heritage

and community life to this day.

One of the things
that makes Neubergthal

quite interesting as
people farm, work, commute,

raise families, grow old,
it's a community that is alive.

A spirit of a
community in a sense,

and I think that's really what's
interesting about the village,

Neubergthal.

DR. IAN MAURO: We
bring people together,

this idea of a new way
forward that's exciting,

that's fun for
all types of people,

and it's a way for us
to think about the future

in a positive way.

If we create a space
in our own minds

and in our own hearts
that has hope, has joy,

has life as a centerpiece
and we start to build

that future there's a
much higher likelihood

that we will find it.

(applause)

(music)

MONIQUE: Chickens!

We have the first
chickens of the season

ready to go this week.

There's nothing like a fresh
roasted chicken on the weekend.

TERRY: Yeah, we
did 300 this year.

We'll butcher
about 100 this week.

JONAH: So, this
is the second batch

of the 50 chickens that I
bought with Terry and Monique

for the season.

I have a few I
want to give away.

I think one to each
of my grandmothers.

It feels good that I think
the life that I have given them

and that you've given them,
Terry,

is lot better than what
they normally get as a breed.

I think as long as there's that
thought put into it before,

during and after I feel pretty
good about taking the time

and giving it at
least a shred of dignity

that it for sure deserves
in becoming our food.

TERRY: Butchering for us,
actually,

is a very personal
kind of an act.

It's not something that we take
for granted at all in any way.

Wendell Berry is as an
important a thinker and writer

for people living on the land.

What he says about
killing animals for food,

is that he
acknowledges that daily

we have to spill the
blood of creation,

and this is not
just about animals,

it's also about plants,

but we have to sacrifice in
order to feed ourselves,

and what he says is:
if we do this knowingly,

lovingly and respectfully
it's a sacrament.

(music)

MONIQUE: Well, there it is,
Terry's 44th birthday.

Happy Birthday, my
handsome hipster farmer.

We're still hoping
for a miracle, here,

that there will
be some hay to come,

but the 4.5 inches of
rain from last week

was way more than
the ground could handle.

We have decided to sell and
butcher the rest of the sheep.

Not enough hay. Depending
on how it all goes yet,

we might have to
look at the cattle.

Maybe that means
more butchering.

Maybe some more selling.

I have started looking
for a job off farm.

(music)

DR. IAN MAURO: The farmers say:

'we're having
trouble growing food',

or 'we think we
might have trouble

growing food in the future',

or 'we think we need
these kinds of supports

to ensure that we can grow food
in a healthy way in the future',

that creates an
important conversation.

That gets us actually
creating the change

that we need for the future.

If we can do that,

we will shift agriculture
into a very different space

that is truly regenerative
across large landscapes

that will be part of
the climate solution,

and it will take
decades to transition.

We need incentives to get
young people into agriculture.

That's where we start to
see that kind of paradigm shift

that the landscape is changing,
not just biologically,

but culturally and
these young people

are at the forefront of it,

and interestingly
it's slightly gendered.

There is a lot of young women
that are leading this movement.

ANIKA REYNAR: Farming is really something

that requires all of you, in many ways.

JONAH: So, here we
are today at the CMU.

So, this is kind of a
bit of an annual, yeah,

tradition almost amongst
the group at CMU Farm,

the Metanoia farmers, where
there has been a fall festival,

kind of a celebration of harvest

and kind of community here at CMU.

CUSTOMER: Is this all together
already, or is this...?

JONAH: That's two, so
whichever one you want.

(music)

ANDREW: This is a
wheat field from the fall.

We're spraying
post-harvest glyphosate,

which is RoundUp®.

We are taking care of the weed pressure

that is in the field after the harvest.

There's been a lot of
studies done on glyphosate.

It's half-life in the soil is 19 years,

and it's not good for the soil.

We are interrupting microbial life,

bacteria, and fungus
and at the same time

we are getting the weed killed.

There's residue
issues in the soil

and in the plants and
then we eat that, right.

I mean that's where
our food comes from.

And there has also been studies
that are showing up glyphosate

in people's urine.

I guess, financially
it makes more sense.

The bank still wants their money,

It's not great.

I wish I didn't have to use it.

I wish there was a different, easier way,

how's that, Ha, I wish
there was such a thing.

That's... yeah,
I don't want much.

I'm not asking for too much.
(laughter)

(music)

IAN: Well, Saturday, Sunday, we had
about an inch and a half of rain,

and I've never seen...

it's discolored flax and usually
flax weathers pretty well,

but anyway, we'll...

we're just doing a sample and we will...

if it's dry we will get it off

and then we will
deal with it later.

DOUG GROSSART: Yeah,
my name is Doug Grossart.

I'm Ian's dad and I guess
Ian is the fourth generation

now that's operated
this farm and...

which my grandfather
started back in 1879.

I always find it
rather interesting

that there is a lot of talk
about either being organic

or conventional and,
of course, you know,

when I was a kid and
probably up to maybe 1940

then organic was
the conventional,

because there was no such
thing as chemical herbicides

or chemical fertilizers.

During the war, the military
developed a lot of chemicals,

and so one of them was 2,4-D,

and of course then later on

we found out that it had some
rather bad side effects to...

for health and so on.

So, kind of makes you
wonder what are we doing now

that five years from now
somebody is going to say

"Oh, oh, we have
got a problem here."

(music)

LINDA GROSSART: I'm
harvesting our participatory

plant breeding plots.

We have three different
varieties of wheat.

So, in order for the
University of Manitoba

to use the seed from
this plot in studies,

I'm looking for ones that have
a lot of kernels in the stands,

that seem to have stood
well even despite the weather

and maybe select a new variety
that's going to grow well,

both organically
and in this climate.

If I kind of hand
thresh a little bit here

and I show you some of the seed,

it just looks like a nice,
healthy wheat seed.

So if they were to choose
one of these varieties

to breed further, eventually,

they'll come up with
a name for them.

So, you never know,
maybe one day

we'll have a
wheat called Howpark.

(music)

MICHELLE CARKNER:
I am the coordinator

for the participatory
plant breeding program here

at the University of Manitoba,

and the goal of the
program is to empower farmers

to breed their own
varieties of wheat,

oat or potato on
their own organic farms

so that they end up
with variety that works

specifically for their system.

So, this is Terry
Mierau's populations.

So, he's done three
years of selection.

He can either choose to
keep selecting next year

or he can choose to
bulk up the population

and actually use it
in his farming system.

TERRY: We did three varieties
of wheat and three of oats.

In terms of
making the selections,

a hard-hard
weather year like this

actually makes the selection
process a fair bit simpler.

If it can survive
with 25 inches of rain

in a two-month period then, you know,

water stress isn't
going to be an issue

MICHELLE: The goal of the program is so that you
end up with a population that is diverse enough.

TERRY: I guess the
goal of my farming system

would be to come up with a variety
that has enough variability

and variation in it
that it can handle variation

in climate as
things get a 25 inch

summer of rain compared to...

and then next year maybe it's
3 inches of rain in the summer.

So, look... if
you look at this one,

this is one plant, really weak,
this is one plant.

So, what I have so
far from this population,

this is the biggest one
in here that would have

been the smallest of what
I had been selecting for.

This is Gunter,
so Gunter is a boar,

he's never done
anything mean to me,

but he's a boar - at the point,

where you think he's
going to do something mean,

that's when he's like well, no, actually,
I really just want to you just scratch me.

This is Molly. Can we
see your babies, Molly?

Sure, sure. Well, there's
a couple of dead ones here,

but those aren't the ones.

The plan this
summer was to get some

new pure bred
Berkshire sows so big Jim

came for summer camp here.

All three sows had their piglets

and then we had a biiiig storm,

three inches in a weekend again

and I went out to do
chores and the whole litter

had drowned overnight

Call your babies, girl.

Only 3 piglets survived
when there should have been

at least 18 between the 3 sows.

This season has been
stressful for everyone.

I love working with pure breed stock,

to go for what's most
beautiful and by beautiful,

I often also mean in a
more utilitarian sense.

Beautiful for me is a cow that
stands quietly when she milks.

And it doesn't make
any difference to me

whether I am breeding
for a potato or wheat

or oat or for a cow,

it has to be for this place,

for me, I am not breeding
for anyone but for myself,

I think that's
what agri-culture is.

It just can't be
separated from breeding.

The moment we put that
into someone else's hands,

I think we have failed.

DR. VANDANA SHIVA: The
options to continue breeding

into the future are too
important for the entire planet

and for those who grow food,

but also those who eat food
and it is time for eaters,

which means every citizen,

to throw their weight
behind farmers' rights,

behind farmers' right to breed,

behind the seed's
right to evolve.

(music)

JONAH: I will not be here next year,

at least not full-time
here farming I mean I'm sure

I'll be back and forth
visiting Terry and Monique

and I don't know,
maybe helping out here,

but I've actually... yeah, I have withdrawn
from the co-op for the coming year.

After this season, I
do feel kind of tired

and in need of a break.

Terry came and helped me
move my pigs back to his place.

I had talked to Terry awhile ago

about him looking after
them for me for the next month

and a half until
they are up to weight

and then I'll come
back and butcher with him.

So, this is kind of my
last full day in the village

I feel like a part
of me has already left,

but also a part of me will
always be here I think, too.

There're couple of
moments yesterday when... yeah,

when I almost came to
tears, thinking about that.

Monique invited me
over for supper so I'll go,

hang out with their
family, which will be nice,

a good way to kind
of cap this off.

(music)

TERRY: Hmm, I'm eating an
apple to talk about potatoes.

Look at these babies. Number five.

So, this, this is what
potato breeding is all about.

So, I carried five
populations through,

which was more
than I should have.

In digging all the
other ones we were fighting

so many weeds in the row.

As soon as we got to population
five, the row was clear,

there were a very few weeds,

because the plants
were so vigorous

that they beat the weeds,

much easier digging.

But the beauty of
this population is

that we're really getting to,

a really nice
consistency of shape, one,

They're all very nice size.

There's still a fair amount
of genetic diversity in here,

which from a commercial breeding
point of view is a bad thing,

from a small farm point of
...breeding point of view,

I think is a really good thing

because what we've learnt
in the last four years

is no summer is the
same as the one before.

The summers are... the growing
seasons are all different.

You need a little bit
of genetic diversity

so that you still get good years
and okay years in bad years.

This is as a bad a potato
growing year as we could...

I think expect, hopefully,
for a very long time.

It feels like it's full circle.

They started here and well,

we always knew
they would end here...

JONAH: In some way.
TERRY: In some way

I love you.

I love pigs,
pigs are my favorite.

(music)

IAN GROSSART: We've got a semi
here to load some organic oats

and we're doing a
pre-load inspection

to make sure
there's no GMO canola

or anything that would
compromise organic integrity.

We're happy these oats met
the specks for Grain Millers

SCOTT SHIELS: Grain
Millers has been able to grow

to be the largest organic oat
milling company in the world.

We implemented a policy
that we will not buy any

conventional oats
that have been sprayed

with glyphosate pre-harvest.

Policy stems from milling
functionality issues,

but with public
perception on glyphosate,

timing is probably pretty good.

We anticipate that the
other major milling companies

such as Quaker and
General Mills will follow suit,

and that it won't be too long

and we're going to see
it in all commodities,

not just oats.

(music)

MONIQUE: With so
much waterlogging,

the soil compaction,

this is what happens
to so many carrots,

that's crazy, that's not what
carrots are supposed to do.

They're just short and stubby

and then when you look
from the top, you think oh,

that would be a
nice looking carrot.

We have such a skimpy
summer that every week

I would write a little
note to go with the boxes,

sort of explaining why
certain things didn't work

and kind of showing that
there's always something

that it even becomes more tasty

knowing that there's
not so much of it,

some things did well
and now that I can see that

it's all coming in a kind
of give out a double box,

quite a few potatoes,
onions, garlic

and I kind of thought it was...

I love playing with words
so I called it the bounty box

instead of the weekly
vegetable box for the CSA

that's I'll take in tomorrow.

(music)

TERRY: Good to be in the
city for a couple of hours,

see a bunch of people
and connect with people

getting food from
us and all that,

which is nice.

Then, after about
five hours in the city,

it's time to get back out.

Hey!

MICHELLE MCNEILL: Hi, Terry.
TERRY: How are you doing?

MICHELLE: I am good. How are you?
TERRY: Good.

MICHELLE: I guess I've always been

a very health-conscious person.

I really wanted to know
the people that grew my food,

because we all play
a significant role

in creating a better world.

I like to joke around
about we have our own farmer

and we actually refer to
our farmer often in the family.

Where... so that we
have to have our bin ready

because our
farmer is coming today,

and the kids know
Terry and Monique

and have met them when they
come to drop off our food

and it's just such a
beautiful connection.

(music)

TERRY: Monique started a job
as an educational assistant

at the same school
where the kids are.

The fact that we have off
farm work is a disappointment.

We have built our
life around our home

and farm and we have shed blood,

sweat, and tears to
do it for over a decade.

There have been many sacrifices
as well as boundless joy.

So, I am tending a
fire and cleaning up

more fallen and dead
trees when I should be trying

for one more cut of hay or
working on drainage ditching,

but it is still way too wet
for any of those things,

so instead I am burning.

I was about to
start the chain saw

and I noticed again how
my shoulder is aching.

I tore something in
it in the spring.

I got to worrying about it

and then I had the thought
just to throw that worry

on the big fire in front of me,
throw it on the fire,

let it burn away,
just let it go.

It felt really good so I
burnt some other things too.

Couldn't make hay this year,
burnt it.

Half the potatoes drown
and rotted, burnt it.

All the cultivating, seeding,

and transplanting that
amounted to nothing, burnt it.

Have to sell cattle,
have to get rid of the sheep

and on and on, burnt it all.

Many have asked us this
fall if they can help

to soften the blow of
a terrible season.

Many have graciously expressed
concern for our finances.

Some have worried
about our state of mind.

We are okay and we will be okay.

We will adapt and adjust

and likely come out
that much stronger.

MONIQUE: It seems
pretty obvious on a farm

to be thankful at
the end of the season

for whatever we
received in food.

However little.

(music)

TERRY: Overall, I would
rather characterize farming

as a constant play
between hope and despair

and in the despair, you have
to be able to step away from it

for a minute and see that
it has shown you something

that can give you hope.

Seeding is an amazing and
beautifully hopeful thing to do.

RAVEN: Just, like really short...

JONAH: Well, ok, oh, boy,
but how do I say all that?

RAVEN: Just say less things:
Marriage, moving, farming

JONAH: In the fall Raven and
I are planning to get married,

and after that in a year or
2 moving down to Altona.

Her dad farms conventionally
as a grain farmer,

and then he's kind of invited me into that,

to farm with him,

and then look into what
transitioning the farm

might be from some
conventional land to organics

...Was that better? RAVEN: That was good

JONAH: ...oh, boy

MONIQUE: So, you still
want to keep farming?

TERRY: Still am farming, June 20th,

potatoes are looking great, population #5,

still working on the name.

Um, vegetables are growing, June 20th,

already cut of hay in the loft in the barn,

cows had calves, 3 heifers out of 4 calves

everybody is eating

lots of grass right
now, good soil moisture.

Its Glory Land.

MONIQUE: Farmer spoke

TERRY: said something... sit down to long,

I just kinda want to roll over in the dirt

and lay down for a bit

...5 more days til Sunday
when we can actually do this

without feeling guilty... Ah, yah

(music)