It was already 75 degrees at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning as the couple busily worked to complete the morning tasks at their Victor farm before the onset of sweltering heat the afternoon would bring.

After 40 years of organic farming and mentoring young people to become the next generation of organic agriculture, Elliot and Brieger of Lifeline Produce in Victor have been named as the 2024 recipients of the Missoula Conservation Roundtable Lifetime Achievement Award. Brieger said she was very honored and humbled to receive the award.

“It’s not the Nobel Prize, but for me it might as well be,” Brieger said as she harvested basil in one of the farm’s greenhouses. “It’s a pretty big deal to me, for our peers to recognize us and select us for this honor. It’s something to be proud of. Although, you know, we’re just doing what we do. I didn’t know that you get an award just for living your life, but I’ll take it.”

Every year the Missoula Conservation Roundtable recognizes local individuals for their achievements. The awards offer “encouragement and inspiration to others who carry on the process of recognizing, preserving and protecting our priceless natural resource heritage,” according to the group’s website. Elliot and Brieger were nominated for the award by University of Montana Environmental Studies Professor Neva Hassanein, Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick, and University of Montana Environmental Studies Professors Emeritus Tom Roy and Vicki Watson.

In a written statement regarding the award, the roundtable praised Elliot and Brieger for their use of biodynamic regenerative farming techniques, their mentorship of young people and for building “a foundation for our local food movement,” calling them pioneers of commercial-scale organic vegetable farming in Montana.

“Conservation can be understood as learning to work with the land, using it respectfully, and passing it on in good shape to the next generation,” a roundtable statement regarding the award read. “By embracing ecological diversity and reciprocity, Lifeline exemplifies conservation at its finest.”

Lifeline Produce is a certified organic farm supplying local fruits and vegetables to grocery stores in Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley, as well as the Western Montana Growers Co-Op who in turn supply grocery stores, restaurants, and institutions across Montana and into Northern Idaho and eastern Washington. Their produce can be found locally at Super One in Stevensville, as well as The Good Food Store and Orange Street Food Farm in Missoula.

The farm uses a closed loop system where everything created there goes to support other aspects of the farm. Brieger and Elliot grow the hay and feed for their livestock who in turn provide the manure used to make the compost that builds the soil to grow more crops. Crops that don’t end up sold at grocery stores or local farmers markets also go to feed livestock. Their closed loop system along with a lot of good old-fashioned hard work has allowed them to generate enormous amounts of produce off only 78 acres.

Solar panels provide most of the farm’s electricity, and they also produce their own biodiesel fuel to run the farm’s vehicles with used cooking oil from Victor’s Hamilton House and the Mustard Seed Restaurant in Missoula.

The couple’s conservation efforts don’t end with their farming techniques, or use of alternative energy sources. In January, the couple finalized a conservation easement on Lifeline Produce’s 78 acres, ensuring the land would forever be protected from development with help from the Bitter Root Land Trust.

Elliot was surprised and grateful to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, despite feeling that the recognition was maybe a little premature.

“On the funny side, you know, the life’s not over,” he laughed. “But it’s an incredible honor. We didn’t really have any expectations; it came up totally out of the blue. It’s really nice that people see that agriculture can be a form of conservation.”