Economic Life

The early Anabaptists played a role in the expansion of trade and economic activity, particularly in the crafts, that characterized Europe in its evolution from a feudal society in the late sixteenth century. The Hutterites were particularly involved in making pottery and weaving textiles. They also established a reputation as bone-setters, midwives, physicians, and experts in medical herbs, especially during the height of their development in Moravia. Only later, after they had escaped to eastern Europe, did they became almost exclusively farmers. By the time that they arrived in North America in the 1870s, they were experienced agriculturalists. Crafts generally served to supplement farming in their communal life. Today all the women have sewing machines and make most of their families’ clothes.

Studies of the establishment of Hutterite colonies in Saskatchewan have shown that, through the sale of building materials, equipment, and other supplies, they injected millions of dollars into the local economy. Harvesting, berry picking, fencing, and construction formed part of the interaction between members of the colonies and their neighbours. Hutterites peddled their products, including eggs, butter, beef, pork, and poultry, in the surrounding communities, and many colonies advertised farm products for sale at their entrance. In the

Source: Meyers Norris Penny and Company, “Hutterite Year End Summary Inventory,” 31 December 1991

most comprehensive economic study of colonies in one province, John Ryan compared eight regions of Manitoba and found variations that demonstrate their adaptation to local conditions. Hutterites have often been criticized for taking up large blocks of land. According to Ryan’s study, in 1968 they owned 14 hectares per capita, or 100 per family, while the rest of the farm population in Manitoba accounted for 47 hectares per person and 202 for each family. They held only one-third as much land per capita as Manitoba farmers generally (this ratio seems to have been changing in recent years). Oats, wheat, and barley were the main grain crops, Hutterites generally had the most up-to-date machinery, and they used fertilizer as extensively as other farmers. According to Ryan, in 1968 Hutterites raised 15 percent of the hogs sold on the Manitoba market.

On the basis of the seventy-eight Schmiedeleut colonies in Manitoba for whom it acts as accountants, the firm of Meyers Norris Penny and Company provided the summary of economic enterprises shown in Table 2. All 78 colonies are involved in growing grain and raising poultry and all but one in hog production. Most of the grain grown is fed to the animals. Since it requires major equipment such as tractors, combines, swathers, cultivators, and trucks, Hutterites have their own mechanics and garages to service this machinery. The large size of their operations make such investments practical. Some non-Hutterite neighbours have their cars and trucks serviced at the colonies. The cattle industry represented only about 8 percent of total Hutterite enterprise in Manitoba in 1991, and poultry accounted for around 5 percent. Egg production was the major enterprise; ten colonies raised turkeys, eight geese, and three ducks.

Hutterite colonies carry on mixed farming on a grand scale. Most raise hogs, cattle, and poultry. To produce the volumes of feed required, they also mill grains, mixing them to maximize growth in animals and increase egg production. Both hogs and chickens are labour-intensive, but such processes as feeding, egg grading, milling, barn cleaning, manure spreading operations, and the slaughtering of poultry are extensively automated. Hutterites keep in touch with university departments of agriculture to learn about the latest farming techniques, and many read agricultural journals. A willingness to modernize and experiment has kept their large operations highly competitive. Their success at farming provides the economic base for the survival of their way of life.