STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
The Lutheran Institute of Regenerative Agriculture will pass on the wisdom of generations past to the young people who spend a summer or several years in this place. The Lutheran Institute of Regenerative Agriculture is not the Church, but it serves the Church by providing summer work and a place to apprentice for the young people of the Church. This is why a pastor will direct this program, a pastor who is also a professor working on an advanced degree, a pastor who cares for animals and the soil. When we are close to the earth, we are eager to learn more about our Creator. When we are close to the earth, we are eager to learn more of what the greatest minds in history have thought. Young men and women will spend their summers here, they will apprentice before, after, or instead of earning a degree, learning how to raise their own food, learning how to raise food for others, learning how a household prepares and preserves their harvest, learning to be close to the earth and those creatures God created to dwell therein. They will learn the Scriptures. They will learn to be Lutheran. They will learn the heritage of our Western civilization. Tradition will be nourished, in every sense of the word. The division between classroom and world, so lamentable in modern education, will not exist. Young people will come from chores to read Shakespeare, or the Lutheran Confessions, or the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, then return to the pastures and fields. They will work hard, but they will be nourished, mind, body, and soul.
Summer Work
LIRA will welcome its first summer workers in the summer of 2025. Summer workers will participate in all of Legacy Farm’s summer activities. Latin will be taught to all summer workers who desire or need to learn the language, with other courses possibly offered. Interested students are to use the contact us form below.
Summer Workers
At the completion of the summer work program at the Lutheran Institute of Regenerative Agriculture, the worker will:
Know how to work safely and effectively with livestock of all sizes, from cattle to pigs to chickens.
Have an understanding of multiple permaculture techniques for gardening.
Have a basic understanding of the systems and infrastructure needed to provide food for a family or a community.
Be able to place the raising and harvesting of plants and animals within the framework of Lutheran theology and a classical understanding of man’s place in God’s creation.
Apprenticeships
LIRA will welcome its first apprentices in the summer of 2027 for two year apprenticeships. All apprentices will experience the full range of activities at Legacy Farms, but there will be opportunities to specialize in various aspects of the farm, from marketing and business to mechanics and welding. Apprentices will take one or two courses each trimester, courses in literature, history, theology, etc. All apprentices will be housed by Legacy Farms. Interested students are to use the contact us form below.
Apprenticeship Program
At the completion of a two-year apprenticeship at the Lutheran Institute of Regenerative Agriculture, the apprentice will:
Know how to raise chickens for meat, from hatching to harvest and processing.
Know how to manage an egg-laying flock.
Know how to raise pigs on pasture, from farrowing to harvest and processing.
Know how to raise cattle on pasture, from calving to harvest and processing.
Be able to utilize multiple permaculture techniques for gardening, and know how to preserve fruits and vegetables.
Understand the vital place of soil health in producing healthy, nourishing, nutrient dense food and be able to improve that health through grazing.
Be able to establish and maintain systems and infrastructure to provide food for a family or for the community.
Know the business of farming and the marketing and sale of local food, attaining the skills necessary to run a successful farming venture, on a for-profit or homestead scale.
Be able to place the raising and harvesting of plants and animals within the framework of Lutheran theology and a classical understanding of man’s place in God’s creation.