THE CHURCH provided an exit from farming for one generation of our family and a return path for my generation. 

My ancestors settled in the Aneta, N.D.,  area in the mid-1880s and continued through until the early 1980s. Despite 100 years of history, the 1980s were an extremely tough time for all farmers, including my dad and uncle. One day they took a short break from shoveling the bottom of a wheat bin. Leaning on his shovel, my Uncle Paul said, “Don, I think I’ve decided on going into the seminary.” 

My dad responded, “Sounds good.” And they went back to shoveling. They both quit farming. My uncle headed to the church and my father went to work on a relative’s farm.

Many years later, a conversation after a Christmas Eve church service in 2007 gave me an unexpected chance to farm myself. I grew up working alongside my dad on our relative’s farm and for others before heading to North Dakota State Univ. I earned a master’s degree in ag economics and got a job working for an agricultural advertising agency in Calgary. My heart was always in production agriculture, but I never thought I would be able to participate directly myself. 

You never know when opportunity will strike. While visiting home for the holidays I struck up a conversation with a farmer…