Going Green: A Day on an Organic Farm

By Matt Leingang
Contributing Writer

Noreen Thomas cracks an organic egg in the kitchen of her 1,200 acre farm north of Moorhead. She immediately points out the difference in yolk color from the conventional eggs found in most grocery stores. Thomas points out that the egg she just cracked closely resembles the kind of egg her grandparents were used to eating.

Her chickens’ diet consists of whole grains as well as fresh insects. The fowl are also free from the antibiotic injections employed my most non-organic farmers. While the USDA allows the use of the “free range” label to be used by farms that allow their hens access outside their cages for five minutes a day, Thomas’s chickens are always allowed to roam the farmyard freely. Goats can be found lounging around the yard, seeking shade in the shadow of a car on a warm spring day. Two dairy cows are kept fenced in by a rope no thicker than one inch in diameter. An easy escape could be executed, but maybe they sense that it is better here than most places.

In the early 90s, Thomas and her husband, Lee, converted his family’s fifth-generation farm into an organic operation, a process that takes three years. The farm has been certified organic since 1997, producing grains, feed, and beans for domestic and foreign markets.

“A lot has changed. More and more research about the side effects of pesticides and herbicides is rolling out,” Thomas said. “At the time we weren’t told that pesticides and herbicides were harmful. I think women intuitively question things, so it was always kind of brewing in my mind. I never felt good in spring time when they’d heavily spray the fields. I’d get horrible headaches and I thought ‘There has got to be a better way.’”

The road to organic was not without ridicule. Thomas recognizes that she was not initially embraced by neighboring farmers. Her three children, Brita, 21, Evan, 19, and Carsten, 17, were also questioned at school. The pressure culminated in 2004 when she won the University of Minnesota’s Siehl Prize for Excellence in Agriculture.

This trend has lessened over the past few years. With the advent of a younger, “green-minded” generation, Thomas noticed that the contempt has diminished. Detractors once told Thomas that maintaining an organic farm would result in a severe decrease in profit, but in its 13th year of existence, the farm shows no signs of being a failing endeavor.

While producing crops and dairy products that harken back to the earliest generations of farmers in the Red River Valley, Thomas also employs technology that earlier generations could only have dreamed about. With the goal of applying new technology and scientific research to enhance sustainable and environmentally sound foods, Thomas, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition from North Dakota State University, regularly participates in studies with UMAC Aerospace and the University of Minnesota. As a result, faculty and researchers have a clearer understanding of the effects of organic farming practices on environmental quality and have improved advanced satellite technology modeling to better meet producers’ needs. Thomas’s findings have been published in NASA journals.

While a walk through the Thomas farm 80 years ago might have found many of the same farming practices in use, it is the subtle differences that push the current farm beyond the threshold of progressiveness. A simple climb up the ladder of a grain silo might find Thomas’s husband taking precise measurements of the amount of moisture in their soybeans. Too much moisture can lead to the formation of mold when the product is shipped to foreign markets. One of her children might be seen administering an oral syringe of pure aloe vera to a pregnant cow, a stress-reduction method for the animal. Another might be found using the bottom of a slip-on sandal to clear yesterday’s grain off the chicken feeder before replacing it with a fresh batch. While organic farming was once the only kind of farming, Thomas and her family have succeeded in reviving it with a modern twist.

The Thomases host “Going Green: A Day on an Organic Farm,” an annual event to take place on June 12. The event opens their farm to the public and includes 12 hands-on activities which cover several of the aspects of maintaining an organic farm.

“It’s a day where families can come out and experience farm life,” Thomas says, “look at the animals, learn something and take that knowledge with them and apply it.”

In addition to a tour of the farm, expert gardeners, farmers, horticulturists, extension educators, conservation and soil experts, and entomologists will host workshops on planting trees, seed saving, chemical-free house cleaning, identifying beneficial insects and collecting rain, among others. The day also includes a local foods lunch.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and requires those interested to pre-register online or by calling Moorhead Community Education, 218.284.3400. A $35 per-family fee is required, of which all proceeds go to benefit The Gifted Learning Project, an area-based non-profit.

“You can read a book all you want,” Thomas said, “but it is something else to see it and learn from other people’s questions.”

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If You Go

What: Going Green: A Day on an Organic Farm
Where: Kragnes, 11 mi. N of Moorhead
When: Sat, June 12, 9am-2pm
Info: 218.233.8066, 218.284.3400