Working for Each Other

Farming is often described as a lifestyle, not a career. That description is true for most farmers, but especially for Hutterian Brethren farmers. Hutterites have been farming since the early 16th century. The rural way of life and producing food are key tenets of their faith and integral to their communal living arrangements. There are approximately 110 Hutterite colonies in Manitoba.

Gerald is a member of Blooming Prairie Colony in central Manitoba where they raise hogs, chickens, grains and grow a large garden. The food produced on the colony is not only used to feed their community but it is also sold into the local and global market. They are always looking for ways to become more efficient. They have invested in new technologies, like solar power and LED lighting in their barns. They grow grains like corn and barley on their fields which are processed, at an on-site mill, into a high quality source of feed for the hogs. Organic fertilizer from the hog operation is safely applied to the fields at exactly the right rate, time and place which increases the health of their soil and further reduces their environmental footprint. Gerald, and his fellow community members, care deeply about the impacts their actions are having on the animals and natural resources in their care because their livelihoods, their homes and their families are intricately connected to it all.