The Gentle Art of Farming

Edmond, 1948, Avant la machine a traire (before the milking machine)

The Man Born to Farming

The grower of trees, the gardener, the man born to farming,
whose hands reach into the ground and sprout,
to him the soil is a divine drug. He enters into death
yearly, and comes back rejoicing. He has seen the light lie down
in the dung heap, and rise again in the corn.
His thought passes alone the row ends like a mole.
What miraculous seed has he swallowed
that the unending sentence of his love flows out of his mouth
like a vine clinging in the sunlight, and like water
descending in the dark?

Wendell Berry wrote the above poem. It is from his The Mad Farmer Poems collection.  He was a farmer, writer and academic. Berry was a staunch defender of Agrarian values and much of his writings reflect this. Agrarian, as a social philosphy, refers to the belief that a "rural society is superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values. It stress the superiority of a simpler rural life as opposed to the complexity of city life, with its banks and factories." (Wikipeidia). 

It is easy to be seduced into thinking that the occupation of farming is somewhat superior to other ways of earning a living, and that there is a purity to the lifestyle.  It does not take much research to discover that social and health problems are more abundant rurally than they are in a urban setting. Generally rural Canadians suffer in high volumes from a number of health and social issues; rural residents have a shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality rates, higher unemployment, higher levels of high blood pressure and obesity, higher levels of arthritis/rheumatism and depression, lower levels of health promoting behaviours. The rates of suicide, accidents and disability are higher for the rural resident than their urban counterparts, and the level of education is lower for rural residents (summarized from www.ubcpress 2011, Health in Rural Canada).

There is clearly much to be done to improve the health of our rural residents. Canadians have a long history of identifying strongly with the rural parts of our country as many of us have ancestors that made their first homes in remote regions. Our national identity is rooted in the wild open spaces of Canada, and it is the wilderness that draws visitors from all over the world to Canada. Our idealizing of the rural lifestyle does seem in contradiction to the health of the people living in these areas. 

The other drawback to the rural lifestyle is the homogeneity of the population as there are fewer immigrant and visible minorities. In recent years there has been a definite shift to Canadians embracing the vitality and diversity of the urban centres which has taken the focus even further away from the struggle in the rural areas. 

Despite the risks my husband and I decided on the rural lifestyle, moving here when our first born was only 3 months old. Fortunately my husband, Brent, had a good start on his farming apprenticeship having learned a solid set of skills in carpentry and general labour through his years as a park ranger. He had some exposure to animal husbandry on a large cattle ranch in his youth, but it was with my father and the years they spent together that deepened his skills, learning about all aspects of cattle care. There were challenges along the way and some steep learning curves. The first time Brent got the tractor stuck he had to endure endless teasing from everyone. 

Brent managed to unearth the tractor after getting it stuck. Circa 1990

Brent was recently interviewed for the local radio station. He was described by the interviewer as a "Renaissance Man" , referring to Brent's expertise in a wide variety of areas. He spoke of Brent's involvement for many years with youth soccer, his current work and his years on the farm. It is true that farm work involves a wide span of skill sets from animal husbandry, mechanics, carpentry, welding and business. The added complexity for the vast majority of farmers other than those fortunate enough to live off private wealth or the very small minority that have self sustaining farms, is the need to add income by working off the farm which adds yet another set of needed skills. I think that this need to be diverse and creative with your skills is one of the most significant advantages to farming. It is good to be challenged in this way; it expands a person's vision who they are and what they are capable of doing. Brent never spoke of the single minded desire to farm that Eddy grew up with, but certainly he quickly demonstrated an ease and joy in the work. 

He may be a "Man Born To Farming".

The farming seed may be sown as Aidan, our son, is showing an interest in farming. He is now 18 years old and is in training to be an electrician, a useful skill on a ranch. Well, one of many skills.