Terrylynn Brant is a former teacher who now describes herself as an "old time farmer." She employs traditional Haudenosaunee ways of farming on her land and is passing on those ways to a collective of young farmers in the community.

The group members, ranging between 20 and 35 years of age, have different levels of farm development, but there are five who carry a full, active farm development.

The collective was an initiative that Brant started last fall and was inspired by a few personal challenges and experiences.

While recovering from recent quadruple bypass heart surgery, she says it gave her time to think about life. More specifically, she reflected on her uncle's belief that his life was "for nothing" because the younger generations were not continuing to farm traditionally.

In the past, Brant's uncle and family members came together and helped her build her house, covering many of the costs. She says that with her house being built the way “we always used to help each other,” and reflecting on that, it inspired her and led to her reaching out to youth farmers.

In the young farmers collective, she says the youth have to show they are dedicated, committed and want to be part of the three year collective process which is a give and take, mutual aid association. If someone doesn’t show up to help one of the other youth farmers when asked, they will not be called the next time.

In her spare time, Brant also speaks on climate-smart Indigenous agriculture and food security, including the 2022 5th World Congress on Agroforestry held in Quebec City.

Listen to the report below.