Singne Arthur refers to herself as a blessed woman. The mother of five mostly grown sons and a new wife, she and her husband, Gary Arthur run Peaceful Valley Ranch, an Angus and quarter horse operation in central eastern Laclede County.
Singne, whose name comes courtesy of her Swedish-born mother and is pronounced exactly as it is spelled (Sing-knee) is possibly most proud of the fact that all of her sons, having been raised as cowboys in the best sense of the word, have chosen to continue in agriculture.
“We moved to Missouri in 1996 from Minnesota,” Singne shared. She and her former husband and her five sons had been in the dairy business. “We were looking to move into ranching so that involved coming to Missouri, and I just love it.
“Today, Adam, who’s 27, lives at Sheldon, near Nevada and owns and operates Clear Sky Cattle Company. He is a crop farmer and also raises Angus. Andrew whom we all call ‘Drew, is 26 and works for T. H. Rogers Lumber Company but is our main ranch hand here at home. Meciah, age 22, lives at Competition and owns and operates Paradise Cattle and Dairy and is milking cows again daily. Cainan, who just graduated high school in May, is working here at home and is still undecided as to exactly which direction he’ll choose next. While he definitely wants to stay in agriculture, he’s got scholarship offers pending so he has to decide if he’s going on to school or not. Jamin, age 16, just finished his sophomore year of high school and shows cattle and participates in high school rodeo events as well as working on a ranch.”
She took a deep breath and laughed. “It’s quite a mouthful. We have about 200 acres here and run 100 head of cattle and 40 quarter horses. We raise our cattle all natural, with no hormones, and we send our calves to the feed lot. We sell a number of our colts but we also keep quite a few. Adam and Meciah use quarter horses raised on our ranch in their operations and of course, we do too, here at home.
“The boys all rodeo every chance they get. They’re all into team and calf roping. For Cainan’s graduation party, we had a roping competition here. We get together with friends and neighbors regularly, add a picnic and have roping competitions,” she added.
“Cainan is in charge of all our horses, training them to rope as well as the training for all of our customers’ horses. My husband, Gary works full time, driving heavy equipment for Maggi Construction out of Rolla, but he also breaks all the colts we raise.”
In 2010, Singne has also taken on temporary employment, working as an Assistant Crew Leader for the Census Bureau, as workers go door-to-door to complete the 2010 Census. “It’s been really interesting,” she commented on this latest venture. “I’ve met a lot of new people and work with a great team. When we finish later this year, I really want to invite them all out here and just have a big cook out and get-together.”
Sharing her joy of the life she’s found here in the Ozarks is at the center of Singne’s many activities today. She and Gary Arthur were married on the ranch last summer on July 4th, in what they called a ‘hitching up’ that included a big barbecue, a wedding ceremony and lots of fireworks.
“God has given us such a beautiful place to live. We hunt and fish and trail ride and I’m so thankful that our boys have chosen to stay in agriculture.” Singne readily admitted she has one small complaint, in that her boys at this point are all still single. “I’m hoping for some grandchildren before too many more years go by,” she laughed.
In the 21st Century, with so many in the younger generation choosing a career path that leads away from their home traditions of farm and ranch, a crop of young men who have chosen to follow in their parents’ footsteps is no small contribution to American agriculture, and Singne’s pride in this fact is tangible.
