Photo: Three generations of Schlegel farmers gather for a photo.
From left: Catherine, Toby, Florence and Clare.
A lot of things he couldn't
do, but he could grow food for the people," says Florence
Schlegel of her late husband, Earl. He saw farming as meeting
a basic human need, more than just a business.
"I hope we have the same perspective," says their son
Clare. His wife Catherine adds: "We are hesitant to comment
on how our faith impacts our farming, because faith for us is
not just in farming but in all we do."
We met in the "office/coffee room" located in the chicken
barn Earl built in the 1950s. Earl and Florence began farming
in 1945 on a mixed farm typical of the day. Florence comments
that Earl never did like horses, so was quick to buy machinery
to take their place. He didn't enjoy cows either, and soon looked
for a different way to farm.
Earl and fellow church member Oscar Leis went into the chicken
business together in the 1950s. It worked because they had the
same Christian principles. Earl, citing Ecclesiastes, would often
comment, "If one falls down, the other can hold him up."
The Schlegel farm was part of the land tract settled by Amish
who came from Alsace-Lorraine in 1822. The original farm (now
106 acres) was purchased by Earl's great grandfather, Nicholas
Schlegel, about 1841.
Clare and Catherine's son, Tobin (Toby) Nicholas, is the sixth
generation on the farm. Toby and his mother raise Boer goats as
one of the Schlegel enterprises while he studies animal biology
at the University of Guelph.
By 1961, the Schlegel broiler business had grown to 20,000 chickens.
In 1979, Clare and Catherine took over the farm. The basic concept
has not changed-they receive day-old chicks and raise them to
approximately four pounds-but the efficiency has changed dramatically.
In 1951, it took about 90 days to raise a bird; today it takes
34. Clare attributes this to changing genetics, disease control,
and better nutrition and housing.
This triggered discussion about the "urban-rural dialogue"
being promoted by Mennonite Church Canada in preparation for the
"Making peace with the land" conference in July. Toby
notes that even at the University of Guelph, historically an agricultural
school, lots of people have no clue about farming. He feels it
is hypocritical for people to criticize current farm practices
without ever having visited one.
Catherine adds: "I don't think people care enough to see
the reality and face the facts. They are caught up on emotionalism
and come with preconceived ideas, ready to see only the negative."
Clare adds that urban people expect to keep buying cheap food.
They do not realize the small profit margin with which farmers
work. For example, on a box of $3.50 corn flakes, the farmer makes
10 cents.
Farmers today receive the same prices they did when Clare began
farming in 1979. The only way to make farming profitable is to
become more efficient. Farms which used to produce 100 bushels
of corn per acre now produce 129 bushels. Farmers are also being
pushed to farm on a larger scale.
What does farming teach about faith?
The Schlegels reply: 1) You make hay when the sun shines, reminding
us that we are not in control, God is. 2) The earth is not static-humans
can have an impact on creation, positively or negatively. 3) We
are called to be stewards of the land for future generations.
4) Farming teaches us patience-things will happen in God's time.
5) We learn something about life and death-things don't live forever.
Since the Walkerton water crisis, there has been much media attention
on pollution caused by manure run-off. This touched a "hot
button" for the Schlegels, who feel that farmers are unfairly
castigated for issues in which the whole society needs to share
responsibility. People drive their cars and fly to vacation spots
expending non-renewable fossil fuel, all the while criticizing
farm practices.
"Yet, it is only farmers who take energy from outside the
earth, i.e. the sun, and turn it into food," notes Clare.
The family also gets annoyed at the slanted way animal rights
people criticize how chickens are kept. Coccidiosis, an intestinal
disease, used to wipe out whole flocks. Now it is controlled by
antibiotics, fed to birds who are safely kept in cages, not outside
picking up dirt from the ground. Dialogue with "back to earth"
people is difficult for farmers who are trying not only to make
a living but to live responsibly.
How does farming affect family life? All three generations agree
that technology and bigger equipment undermine ways in which farms
have traditionally provided meaningful work for each family member.
Nevertheless, Toby feels he has had ample opportunity to stay
engaged in farming. He does not find himself in the crisis of
his urban peers who need to "find work."
Is farming a way of life or a way to make a living? "Both,"
says Toby. "Sometimes the distinction is greater than other
times. You gotta be pretty sure it is what you want to do."
Clare says he would encourage young people to work off the farm
for a while, to test their sense of call to farming.
People still need to work together. Clare and Catherine, who provide
employment for three men, are in several partnerships which include
growing crops, poultry and swine. They have several holdings-legal
entities which represent "a farm community" working
together to make farming viable in the present economic climate.
-Maurice Martin
Are we keeping our house in
order or are we leaving the next generation with an empty pantry
and a messy basement? asks Glen Klassen, micro-biology professor
at the University of Manitoba. A growing awareness of environmental
crises has diverted Klassen from his interest in evolution research
to a pursuit of environmental issues.
Klassen highlights two issues that concern him: the major adjustment
that will be required of the world as population levels off and
our indiscriminate use of non-renewable resources.
Forecasts predict that in about 50 years the world population
will stabilize at nine billion.
"This will necessitate a major transition from a growth economy
to a steady state," says Klassen. It is likely to be traumatic
for the world, especially farmers. Without growth, it may be a
tougher economy with fiercer competition. Consumers, too, will
need to make adjustments.
The technology of the twentieth century has given us genetic engineering
and factory farming, but Klassen questions the wisdom of how these
developments treat plants and animals. Genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) give western farmers a greater margin to cope financially
but they are not benefitting the developing world.
"While a virus-resistant potato could save 40 percent of
the crop that is lost in Africa, the developing world cannot pay
for this technology. It is for the rich so they can become richer,"
he says.
"I don't feel it is a dangerous technology.... Some clumsy
things have been done but the risks to human health are almost
nil. The danger to the environment is a different matter,"
says Klassen.
"We shouldn't blame the farmers for their practices. The
church is made up mostly of consumers and as consumers we demand
efficiency," observes Klassen. We don't understand the demands
this places on the soil, water and animals. We don't see how we
are part of the problem. "As Christians we should try to
do everything we can to change the system."
Edward O. Wilson in his book, The Future of Life, notes a shift
in blame for the exploitation of the environment. Christian and
Judaic understandings (from Genesis) were blamed until recently,
but now science must also accept responsibility. Evangelical efforts
that emphasize stewardship are gaining recognition.
"But some Mennonites are still very suspicious of the environmental
movement. Some think global warming is a hoax. Some believe the
world is not worth saving because it will be destroyed anyway,"
notes Klassen.
"The core for me is realizing that you can think of the economy
in a limited way or a global way. A capitalist economy takes from
nature believing it's free and makes money from it. But really
nature is one of the players and it is losing. We are taking from
present and nuture generations.
"As Christians, do we care about the order of our house and
the supplies in it?"
-Evelyn Rempel Petkau
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