Annie's Organic Farmers: Drury Family Farm

 

Lane Drury farms the Montana land that his Grandparents came to in 1940. His brothers and sisters have all left the farm. He jokes that he is the “fool who stayed,” but really he is the smart one who came back. He and his wife, Colleen, met in Bozeman, MT at the University and Lane turned down law school to return to the farm. It was a wicked windy and chilly August morning when we met Lane for a quick visit on his land. He had finished the durum harvest earlier in the week and squeezed in time between his dentist visit and a day’s work.

 

He and Colleen like the farming lifestyle, even though they both hold down town jobs to support the farm. Colleen works at the local Credit Union and in the winter Lane does appraisals. Both are involved in the community as Lane serves on the local school board while Colleen coordinates the local Organic OCIA Chapter. They have three kids and are grateful to be able to raise them on the farm. They’ve grown up with an assortment of farm animals, chickens, pigs, horses, and now ATV’s Lane jokes. The Drury’s also raise cows, and this year they have about 70 cows they’ll sell for beef. Lane would like to sell them as organic, but it’s hard to develop a market for organic beef in a rural town where most people raise their own meat.

 

The Drury’s farm about 2,200 acres of land, and this year 1,100 acres is planted in durum, peas, flax, hard red spring wheat, kamut and oats. The other half is resting in summer fallow which allows the ground to store up moisture and fertility for next year’s production. Lane converted to organic in 1996 with the help of another local organic farmer, Mikel Lund. Lane hated spraying with pesticides and noticed that the chemicals decreased local populations of wild pheasants and partridge. Now he has plentiful populations of these birds in his fields, along with hawks, owls and other water fowl. Lane taught us that his farm is part of the “prairie pothole” ecosystem, a region that extends out from the Northern Plains through the Dakotas and up to Montana. Migratory birds make use of small ponds and wetlands, feeding the local habitat throughout these areas, proving that agriculture and wildlife can sustain one another.

 

The Drury’s rotate their crops and summer fallow to keep soil fertility. For example, Lane will follow wheat, a shallow rooted crop with flax, deep rooted oilseed that can reach 3 feet down to mine lower nutrients in the soil. Lane likes to market his crops by developing long term business relationships, and he works with Montana Flour and Grain, a successful local mill in Great Falls as well as Ceres Organic Harvest.

 

One worry he has is that organic agriculture will become just as globalized as conventional farming and crop prices will plummet. It’s a concern that all organic farmers echo, and it would put most small farmers and companies out of business.The best way around this problem is to form the long term relationships Lane favors. With respect, fairness and loyalty, we stand a chance together.