Shelton Dairy Farm is located at Bucyrus, Mo., (locally known as Ellis Prairie) just a few miles from where three generations of Shelton’s were born and where their grandparent’s homesteaded land in the 1800’s. Farming is nothing new for them. In 1985 Leonard and Carolyn sold their beef cattle and built a dairy barn because they thought it would be more profitable and provide a steady income. They had high hopes for this family farm, and for their two sons Jeff and Darin.
They purchased 40 Holstein heifers at a dairy dispersal sale at Hartville and their herd today consists of 80 cows who are the direct descendants of this original purchase. Several things have changed though since 1985. Leonard and Carolyn built the dairy barn and had plans to build a new home. They completed the dairy barn but before the house was finished Leonard passed away from cancer. Carolyn and the boys still ran the dairy operation and gradually finished the new house. Eventually Darin got married and established his own household, so that left Carolyn and Jeff to operate the family farm. Mother and son have done a good job with their own ideas and unique way of doing things.
“Our lifestyle doesn’t change with the good years or the bad years. My high school agriculture instructor said, just because it works on a research farm with unlimited money doesn’t mean it will work in the real world.” The Sheltons take that common sense approach to dairy farming. They have kept their overhead cost at a minimum by not investing in a lot of expensive equipment. Jeff said the three things that he finds indispensable are the front-end loader, the four-wheeler and of course, the calf pullers.
Also, all the pastures and hay meadows on this 220 acres are up to soil test standards. The Sheltons do not buy any hay for winter feed. “We have clover mixed with grass all over the farm and the hay meadows are brome, orchard grass and clover mix," Jeff said.
The Sheltons have their hay custom baled each year and they are very happy to have their entire winter supply cut, raked and baled in three days with no effort on their part. "We couldn’t pay the interest on all that hay equipment for the cost of custom baling, besides that, why should we own equipment that sits idle for eleven and a half months out of the year?”
The milk cows are fed 16 percent bulk feed from Wake Feeds in Willow Springs, Mo. "We buy grade bulls from high producing herds, which has worked well for us. What works for one farm might not work for others,” Carolyn said. Jeff and Carolyn are constantly improving their herd by selling their older cows.
In September of 2003, with diversification in mind, Jeff started Ellis Prairie 3D Bow Shoots on their dairy farm. These events are held on the second full weekend of every month, March through September. With this type of bow shooting, the targets are life-size targets of different species of wild animals, and hunters follow a course through woods, across creeks and around bluffs in pursuit of the next target.
“There are several 3D Bow shooting ranges in the state but this is the only one with a truly natural habitat," Jeff said. According to Jeff, they had 152 shooters for the first shoot in March.
The bow shoots are mostly for enjoyment of the sport and the satisfaction gained from sharing their farm with customers in the four-state area. Between dairy and the hobby business, theirs is a one-of-a-kind operation only to be found in the Missouri Ozarks.
