“I'm one of those people that thinks you don't ever own land. How can you own something that's gonna out last you?”

Jared Lawler is a farmer, a throwback to another era. On his 450-acre farm, eight miles from Clinton, Mo., he and his wife, Kulani, work the family land using old tools. He restores rusting farm equipment, makes it look like new, and cultivates land that's been in his family for five generations.

Jared and Kulani are not like their neighbors. They have no cell phones and their television was made in the last century. They've chosen to stay on the family farm instead of pursuing other careers.

It's an uncertain future. Kulani has to work off the farm to bring in extra money to pay bills, and at times Jared has also had to work elsewhere to make ends meet.

Their passion is the land. They'll work it as hard as they can, as long as they can.

“Leave it in better shape than when you got it,” Lawley says.

***

As the day winds down, Jared Lawler talks with his father, Willie Lawler, about the plans for the coming day on Jared's farm eight miles from Clinton, Missouri.