Meet the Yoder Family (continued)

With Noah and Amanda retired (but just down the dirt road, busy with their quilting business), Kore and his wife Miriam, farm as a team with daughters Sara, Krystal and Rosetta. Nestled in the rolling hills just a few miles from the center of Lewisburg, the Yoder farm, blooms with life and beauty.

Miriam and the girls manage a thriving vegetable garden, and the day I visited they were busy with canning. Miriam and her older daughters buzzed around the kitchen while Lorin and Rosetta finished up the milking chores. Afterwards, all of us sat down to a delicious farmhouse dinner, lovingly prepared with fresh ingredients produced on the farm. I noticed cows grazing contentedly on green pastures beyond the window, while Kore, who stewards 300 acres of land, talked proudly of his ability to feed the herd plus provide some feed to other organic farmers with his thriving corn, soybean and spelt crops.

"Farming the way we are, I have more time for my family. It's true we have more work, but I feel we are raising the children in an environment that's friendlier and safer. I think they have a better awareness as to the hazards that are out there, and are more selective about our eating and living habits. Without a doubt, we have a better quality of life," Kore states.

Kore serves as a member of Organic Valley's Dairy Executive Committee, and is also on an advisory team at Penn State, dedicated to educating farmers through work on 10 acres of organic farmland. "You know, a lot of time farmers transition to organic because they realize they can finally make a profit. At first we transition our soils, but then, after a time, a transition occurs in us."