Family Farms - Moravian College

Glenn Jurek ´64 checks the rice crop on his Texas
farm.
Glenn F. Jurek, M.Div. ’64
He planned to save souls,
not sow seeds. After graduat-
ing from the University of Texas
with a major in history and a
minor in sociology, Glenn Jurek
’64 ventured northward to attend
Moravian Theological Seminary,
and then worked as a Moravian
pastor from 1964 to 1969. Eco-
nomic realities, though, moti-
vated him to seek other options.
“Even though I enjoyed my work,
I had to leave the pastorate,”
Glenn says. “I needed more money
to live on, and to send my two
children to school.”
So in 1969, Glenn went to
work as a farmhand for his uncle
in Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico.
It was hard work. “Sometimes
we worked five and a half days
a week,” he says. “And when we
were planting or harvesting
we worked every day.” But as
demanding as the work schedule
was, Glenn was hooked on the farming life,
and a few years later he wanted to farm on
his own. “I got the financing and bought my
own farm in 1973. At first I sharecropped,”
Glenn says. “My portion was 250 acres of
rice. I chose rice because I wanted to grow
healthy food, and rice is one of the best
things we can eat.”
The Farms, They Are A-Changin’
Farming may be an ancient profession, but it's one
that keeps pace with the times. “Technology has
moved the industry forward,” says Kathryn Heil ’87,
county executive director of the USDA’s Lancaster
County Farm Service Agency in Lancaster, Pa.
“Progressive farms embrace that new technology,
which includes global-positioning systems in tractors
and harvesters,” she says. “Among other things, GPS
allows farmers to check which areas of their fields
yield more crops and which areas could use more
nutrients. The technology also helps them use less
fertilizer."
Not everything new comes from a satellite:
“Some farmers use computer software, including
CourTesy oF glenn JureK ´64
computer-aided design programs, to help plan fields
and manage crop production,” says Kathy. “And
dairy farmers can use microchips to track milk pro-
duction.” Many small family farms just can’t afford
the latest and greatest in technology, though. One
option for small farms is to work with a custom farm-
er. “If you’re a farmer without high-tech equipment,
you can hire someone who’s invested in the technol-
ogy to help you,” Kathy explains. “You may ask him to
plant or harvest your crop for you, because you don’t
have that equipment." Everyone wins: small farmers
get their crops planted, and custom farmers make a
return on the expense of their equipment instead of
letting it sit idle.
Glenn ran his farm alone for a few
years, but the work became too much for
one person. “I hired a couple of young men
to work with me,” he says. “Those same men
were with me in 1990 when I retired.” Dur-
ing harvest season, Glenn had as many as
10 or 12 men working for him, for 12 or 14
hours a day. Yet, like the other farmers in
this story, he says the sweat equity brings
intangible dividends “I just loved working
with the soil and growing crops,” he says. By
the time he retired in 1990, Glenn’s one-man
operation had grown to include high-tech
farm equipment, more than 3,000 acres of
land, and productive relationship with rice
marketer Uncle Ben’s. “One year, they bought
my entire rice crop. All that brown rice went
to Belgium and was shipped throughout
Europe.” Looking back, Glenn sees similari-
ties between his work on the farm and in the
pastorate. “In either career, you’re feeding
people—their stomachs or their souls.” W
Linda Rao has written about health and fitness for many
national magazines. If you were at Moravian between
1987 and 1988, you may remember her as assistant dean
of students.
FALL 2007 MORAVIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE 17
phoTo By John Kish iV