If you drive the winding back roads through New Castle’s farmland, you might see what looks like a living history exhibit, with horses pulling massive logs out of the woods to be stacked. However, if some college students have their way it is the future, not the past, of forestry and farming in America.

The Wendell Berry Center in New Castle and Sterling College from Vermont (yes, Vermont) are not just teaching the next generation of farmers, but teaching how to manage land sustainably.

“We have a situation in the United States where the average age of a farmer is getting close to 65,” said Matthew Derr, president of Sterling College. “Unless we don’t want to eat anymore we have to think about that.”

Most forests are harvested in the 21^st century using heavy machinery to clear out massive swatches of land. But The Berry Center’s message, championed by Kentucky’s famous poet Wendell Berry, is one of responsible farming, using literal horsepower at times.

“This is an attempt to teach young people how we might keep what’s left of our forests in good shape, and we absolutely need them,” said Mary Berry, executive director of The Berry Center.

One main reason for using horses in the woods is they leave almost no trace, just ruts in the ground normal foot traffic would leave. Plus the “by-product” they leave behind helps fertilize the soil. The earth is literally better after a team of horses and logs come through.

“I think it’s totally reasonable,” said Lara, a Sterling sophomore who plans to come back for the full fall semester. “If enough people do it I think there will be an industry for it and right now there’s just not a whole lot of people doing it.”

Thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the NoVo Foundation, students attending the fall program will do so tuition free, making some of America’s aspiring hardest workers breathe a little easier. We might too if their methods catch on.