The Missions Ranch: Teaching and Learning Agriculture

If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and fed," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. St. James, 2:15-17 (RSV)

These verses are from the text that Sarah and Cody Johnson call their "prerogative and mandate." Sarah and Cody operate a small sustainable farm called The Missions Ranch on the edge of Littlefield, Texas, a small town situated forty minutes from Lubbock. Carrie and I were fortunate enough to visit the ranch two years ago. There, on the windswept high plains of West Texas, the Johnsons are working hard to cultivate the faith, a family, and a crop.

Cody nursing a baby goat rejected by its mother

"Sustainability, according to the UN, is a balancing act of meeting our needs today without compromising our ability to meet those needs in the future," Sarah told me in a recent interview. "For us personally, sustainability is looking at the future generations and if we continue to do agriculture the way we are doing it now, can (they) continue to do that with integrity and gain the same yields that we are now."

This project means avoiding things like tillage, which over time can turn the soil to sort of a natural cement, called hardpan, as well as irrigation, which slowly leads to salinization, which is the development of a layer of salt, cutting plants off from vital nutrients. "It's a lot of trial-and-error," Sarah tells me, as they learn more about the land and how to cultivate it without causing harm. In addition to their small herd of goats and the family dairy cow, they are now trying to raise a full orchard and berry crop, all with minimal irrigation. "We use a lot of native species when we can." And when it is not possible to use native species, they bring in species with similar needs from elsewhere.

"If creation is good, we want to maintain that integrity and goodness." And this means more than responsible agriculture at The Missions. In addition to farming, they run classes on agriculture, directed primarily at children. "Part of the Christian faith has always been about sharing it with others," Sarah explained. The focus on children allows them to incorporate their own children in the classes, who love to tell stories from the farm to visitors.

Teaching has been a learning experience for Sarah. She recounts how one young student came to a week of classes, and no matter how he was encouraged and corrected, preferred sitting and playing in a patch of dirt to participating in the class activities. At the end of the week, the child's mother came to Sarah to express how much her son had enjoyed the class, including many specifics of what they had been taught. "He had the freedom to use his hands and play in the dirt that he needed. And I don't need to understand why he needs that to understand that he needs it." She encourages parents, in particular, whose children seem disinterested to persist.

Students feed a goat at The Missions

The Johnsons are continually learning, Sarah says, careful to point out that they do not think they have "arrived." Talking to her, I was reminded to St. Benedict's "School of the Lord's service." This faith and this work are, throughout our lives, a process of learning. What is required in this school is persistence. Sarah explains, "I had a zoology teacher who said that learning is expensive, and she meant it biologically speaking. Animals that have to learn are more likely to die during that process than if things are done by instinct. I took a lot of comfort in that, though, when we were starting our homestead and something would go wrong and cost us financially or emotionally. Learning is expensive, and failure is a part of learning."

I could not help thinking of St. Paul writing to the Romans about the righteous judgment of God, "who will render judgment to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life." (Rom. 2:5-7, RSV) Sarah summarizes, "I had a mentor, pretty early on. She started mentoring me before we bought the farm. I was really down because we had done a garden for three years, and all the plants had come up, gotten three inches tall and died. She told me, if you don't plant a garden, then you've already failed. But if you plant a garden, you have a chance...That's how we've tried to run our farm. If you feel like you're supposed to do it, and you don't, you've already failed. If you do it, you might fail, but you might succeed."

And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, RSV)

If you're interested in learning more or visiting The Missions Ranch, you can get in touch with Sarah and Cody at their Facebook page.