Bob Chapman has always been a dual career man. For 32 years his life revolved in area vocational schools in Eldon, Rolla and Waynesville where he was school director for 25 years. Four years ago, when he retired from the educational system, he found his opportunity to move to his farm in Dent County, which he had worked towards for many years. Today, in addition to the farm, he also works at the Leonard Wood Institute, a part of the Ft. Leonard Wood system that provides research and development funding to the army, defense contractors, the university and entrepreneurs.
“I’m just 20 miles from the east gate of Ft. Leonard Wood, and a short drive from Rolla so it’s an easy commute,” Bob explained. His wife, Kelly, their 6-year-old daughter, Kennedy and 4-year-old son, Kacy are also at home on the farm, raising Red and Black Angus crossbred calves.
“We have 400 momma cows on a total of 1,500 acres,” he continued. “We own 900 of that and rent another 600. I’ve had to buy all the land that we own. I didn’t inherit or marry into any of it,” he added with a chuckle. “All our acreage is in pasture, so we buy hay from our neighbors and we feed a lot of hay from February on. I feel like we’re fortunate in that all of our land is within a mile and a half span.”
“We try to sell all our calves to Strauss-branded veal and sell them when they’re between 425 to 500 pounds. They’re all natural and we use black Limousin bulls with Red or Black Angus cows,” explained Bob. “Any of the calves that we don’t sell to Strauss, we market through the Department of Agriculture’s Quality, Source and Age (QSA) protocol. They bring a premium at market if they are QSA calves. The nice thing about marketing them as veal is that you don’t have to work them. They go straight from weaning to processing.”
Bob says that there isn’t a lot of help on the farm besides family, and without their assistance it would be a challenge. “I have three older children, Brad, Lucas and Linley, all of whom have full-time jobs and come to help on the farm on weekends and as often as they can. Brad works in construction and Lucas and Linley are both teachers. We don’t have any outside help. Our farm is literally all run by family.”
Running a farm leaves little time for much else and Kelly says that if the kid’s wanted Bob’s time, it had to be while working on the farm. “They do and we really appreciate that so if the calves sell well, there are plans for a special surprise trip for all of them to Disney World for Christmas.” She smiled with a wink and added, “But shh! We’re not telling anyone until Christmas!”
Bob added that the personnel at the local National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office have been very helpful in assisting him to develop an intensive grazing program on 330 acres and the rest of his acreage is all used on a rotational grazing basis. “They’ve helped with additional water resources and fencing options and between them and the good support I’ve had from my area banker, it’s really helped in making this little farm operation work.”
“I spend my days around engineers and scientists,” Bob concluded, “so for me, working on the farm is my relaxation.”
