Canadian Mennonite
Volume 6, number 11
June 3, 2002

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Sixth generation of Schlegels committed to farming

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