The Rural Voice, 1998-05, Page 23and ecological farm practices if we
spew fumes into the air above our
`certified organic' soils and continue
depending so heavily on fossil fuels."
What the editorial also tells is
how this enlightenment
and change of lifestyle
came out of tragedy. In the fall of
1995 the Berettas' barn burned to the
ground. They lost everything. With
little insurance to help rebuild, Mike
speaks of a fortuitous friendship that
began.
"By some miracle we landed onto
the Howick Mennonites. That winter
they took down two local barns and
willingly came to help."
The next spring about 100
Mennonites drove onto the Beretta
property and in the spirit of
neighbour helping neighbour
constructed a new barn in one day.
Mike describes, "A horse and buggy
had been tied to a post next to our
tractor. During the course of the day
the horse dropped its waste into a
pile behind it as it stood. That
evening I needed the tractor and
hopped on and attempted to slide the
quick -attach loader off. A hydraulic
hose got hooked and burst, thus
leaving a pile of the tractor's waste in
a large puddle."
"I do not need to go into detail as
to what slowly evolved on the grass
under these two deposits, but the
contrast had a lasting effect.
"The Mennonites are such a good
example that this type of farming can
work. So I had a new barn and a new
outlook. I sold the tractor and bought
three draft horses. Henceforth, that's
all we use."
While Mike is quick to note that
others may think his ideas are a bit
like plowing under your corn to build
a ball diamond, for him this field of
dreams makes sense. "Horses are
• non-polluting. They reproduce. They
start in cold weather. They cause less
compaction and help grow their own
fuel. They contribute to soil fertility.
There's a loyalty that doesn't exist
with a tractor."
While time -efficiency may be the
biggest drawback to this type of
farming, Mike says that because it
takes more time to farm with horses,
he has become a better manager.
"Decisions tend to be keener. With a
tractor you may decide that day is not
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MAY 1998 19