Five Penny Press

We are pleased to announce the release of

A PRAYER FOR THE PRAIRIE
Learning Faith on a Small Farm

A book celebrating faith, sustainable agriculture and holistic living

When author Raylene Frankhauser Nickel and her husband, John Nickel, returned to North Dakota in 1990 to a small family farm near Kief, financial difficulties soon overtook them. The years that followed challenged their Christian faith as well as their every assumption about agriculture, healthful food, food distribution and the running of a household.

A Prayer For the Prairie But from difficulty sprang hope and new ideas, many gleaned from writers such as Wendell Berry, Allan Savory, and Tom Sine. Hope and new thinking, along with Raylene Nickel's many years as an agricultural journalist writing for regional and national farm magazines, shaped A Prayer for the Prairie: Learning Faith on a Small Farm.

The book is a collection of spiritual essays by Nickel. These examine and sometimes challenge conventional assumptions about rural life, food production, and agricultural practices. Drawing from the context of the author's Christian faith and her years as a journalist, the essays center on issues such as vision, economics, work, land stewardship, food production, prayer, and quality of life. Couched in hope, they present some promising processes that seem to be evolving on the Nickels' own farm.

Agricultural economist Dr. John Ikerd, who speaks and writes on issues relating to sustainable agriculture, the economics of sustainability, and holistic living, has written the foreword. Ikerd, professor emeritus of the University of Missouri, says about the book:

"The joys and hardships of a life lived among the things of nature on a family farm is a classic American theme. Raylene Frankhauser Nickel articulates this theme more picturesquely, yet more clearly, than do most writers--perhaps because each word actually comes from her heart. ...

"But this is not a book of nostalgia for farm and ranch life of the past. Rather, it is a book of new hope for the future of farmers and ranchers everywhere. This book is about nurturing a new, sustainable way of farming, which promises a better quality of life on the land for all who are willing to learn to live and work in harmony with nature. ... No visionary has stated more clearly the true meaning of a sustainable quality of life than has this farmer in this book."

Farmers and ranchers have endorsed the book as well.

John and Raylene Nickel farm in central North Dakota, near Kief. Previously certified organic grain growers, they are transitioning their cropland to grow forages. Operating on 468 acres of farmland and 700 acres of lakes and rangeland, they have a goal of marketing forage-fed beef from their commercial, Shorthorn-based cow herd of 65 head.

Much of the work of feeding the cattle in winter is done by manual labor and teams of horses, as is some of the harvesting of the hay. The Nickels produce most of their own food on the farm. Raylene Nickel has written articles for regional and national agricultural magazines for the past 20 years.

A Prayer for the Prairie is a 6-by-9-inch, softcover book of 176 pages and includes a listing of organizations devoted to alternative living and alternative agriculture. The text does not include photos.

Ordering information.