“A lot of plants make sense to me, but how is that, you know, you turn water and everything else into strands? You come back in August, and all of this is gonna be pure white.” — Adrian Nelson, gesturing at the cotton field

I was given the privilege to see the documentary Harvest as I am covering films & documentaries for the Tribeca Film Festival on behalf on my podcast The Bombadcast. This documentary is an amazing exploration into farming culture, family business dynamics, and the legacy of owning a family business in southern America. 

Rooted in the American Dream, and the desire to become the biggest farmers in Sondheimer Louisiana, the Nelsons are extremely determined and willing to take on whatever it takes to rise together. They are doing all the things it takes to run a modern business, including building a social media presence through TikTok, constantly working on equipment that is failing, but never losing sight of the goal in mind. 

The film is beautifully shot in a setting I am unfamiliar with, but in a state that I love and respect for its hardened nature. There is a constant desire to learn about the trade, and to never stop learning, and “growing.” They are true country boys, not just putting their boots on and calling themselves country. This is their core and all they know. 

The filmmakers did such an excellent job acknowledging what is rare in today’s media and that is authenticity. What real families look like. What real families function like. The desire to want more in life. Each sibling is running multiple jobs and businesses in the off season, all while trying to keep the family operation moving forward.

The film is informative, while also pulling at your heartstrings as you see the lifestyle and authentic struggles that a family would undergo running such a large operation, especially being that the family runs and owns the business, and only the family is employed for their personal business. It shows the legacy of teaching the next generation what hard work looks like, even within a group of brothers. 

Being denied loans, fighting for a company and venture that they deeply believe in, and analyzing the push and pull of even having a relationship while running a business like this all becomes part of the story. There is a very real desire for a better life, which we all yearn for and it is beautifully reflected here in this documentary. 

I particularly learned that farming is not just one set piece of land, but several smaller pieces of land scattered across the northeastern part of the state. These pieces of land can be leased / loaned out from other owners, or owned by the family themselves. The documentary also shows that sometimes there is not enough rain, and sometimes there is too much rain at the same time.

Everything deals with business, even at family functions. There are heated arguments and grievances aired at Easter, with the family trying to find their balance on who should be doing what on their first day of harvest. The drone shots of Louisiana are spectacular. The documentary has a very natural momentum, with great highs and understandable lows, and a solid resolve that still comes from the heart.

However, there is some unnecessary cursing that does prevent me from showing this documentary to my middle school students. This is just a slight nitpick of my own, but it should not necessarily scare away viewers. 

The most unexpected part of the documentary is the acknowledgment of them losing a family member who was very young, who was a natural when it came to farming, and who died unfortunately as a byproduct of the farming process. He was just playing in the field. It is absolutely raw and gut-wrenching stuff. Even the ability to come back to farming after such an accident is absolutely inspirational.

“Can’t stop me from farming. Nothing can discourage me.”

That line really speaks to the core of this documentary. Farming is shown as a very cyclical process and experience, knowing that they will do this all over again, with a desire to make money and make growth throughout the coming year’s harvest.

At its core, Harvest is about the struggles of being a farmer right now, and the sons living their dad’s dream of being a big farmer. It is about family, legacy, hard work, struggle, loss, faith, and the desire to literally grow into something bigger than what came before.