Farmer sews masks for community

May 11, 2020

Tammy Brink has sewed more than 1,300 masks since March

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A Highland, Ill. hog farmer has spent the last few months sewing masks for her community during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Tammy Brink, who raises Berkshire hogs with her husband Larry, estimates she’s produced more than 1,300 masks since March 22.

She started making the masks, which take about 20 minutes each to complete, after hearing about equipment shortages in her community.

“I had a retired nurse friend tell me the hospital where she used to work was looking for masks,” she told Farms.com.

Since creating her first set of masks, other hospitals, long-term care facilities, churches and neighbors have contacted Brink looking to place orders. Customers are only required to cover the costs of material.

“I have 20 masks on my table to finish today,” she said.

Brink’s introduction to sewing started as a young girl.

She got involved in a sewing project in 4-H when she was 11-years-old. She credits her mom and another family member with helping hone her skills.

“My aunt Jean was super picky,” she said. “If the hand stitches weren’t perfect, my aunt would tell me to rip them out and do them again. I was a little girl, I didn’t have anything else to do, so why not sit and make it perfect? That taught me patience and even today I don’t mind sitting down and looking forward to doing handwork.”

Brink’s sewing passion has spawned an off-farm career.

She left an administrative position to become a seamstress at a local retailer and started her own business, Vintage Farm Stitchery, where she specializes in christening gowns, bridesmaid dresses and other garments.

“Weddings, proms and other events that I would usually be busy for are cancelled, so why not do masks?” she said.

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.