Insights
Ole is a man with many "irons in the fire" so to speak. Balance, change, respect for all farmers and a call to action tend to punctuate conversation with this life-long farmer.
Some time ago when he was a young farmhand in Denmark driving a spray rig, he began to see the effects that chemicals were having on the land over time.
"The land was becoming sterile; the soil suppressed," he recounts.
In short, the chemicals were turning soil to dirt. He took these observations to heart two decades ago as he began his own Montana farming operation. While his farm is certified organic he also uses bio-dynamic, non-locality quantum entanglement principles and a lifelong experience of common sense in the way he farms. He considers these practices a step in the right direction towards producing food with high energy and balanced nutrition.
His commonsense perspective has been a great asset to the Montana Organic Association, where he helped to create the organization from the ground up, serving as both as Treasurer and Chair. In 2010 Ole stepped away to put more of his efforts into launching the Organic Advisory and Education Council organization with other organic farmers. The purpose of this organization is to compile concerns plaguing organic farmers, and in cooperation with universities, develop research for effective solutions.
"It is work in progress and it takes time," Ole says.
During the last 15 years, Ole has also worked closely with the heirloom corn breeder, Dave Christesen, from Montana on the anthocyanin-rich purple/black corn called Montana Morado Maize. Ole is now working on "on farm processing" where he mills and packages the corn into different products like flour/meal and delicious cornbread and pancake mixes.
Ole's cousin in Denmark has created an innovative seed cleaner that has the potential to help small and large scale farmers clean their own seed. Meaning farmers can save their certified organic seed that is adapted to their land, saving them thousands of dollars. Ole recently imported 8 of these machines to sell and now has 3 left. All of this while farming 1900 acres on 3 plots of land, with one plot being 185 miles away from home!
This man of many talents has a potent message to our end consumers: Wake up and smell the coffee.
“Your purchasing decisions directly impact our world,” Ole says. “It is your responsibility to educate yourself and you must -- so we all can change the world for the better."