Shortly after Sylvester Burd returned from World War II to his Phillipsburg, Mo., home in Laclede County, he and his brother, Neil visited a neighbor with the intention of buying his farm. “We came down and talked to him about it. He said he would take $11,000. In a few days he came over where we lived, a quarter of a mile from here, and he said if we wanted that place he would take $9,000 for it – house, barn and all. He said, ‘I want you boys to have it,’” related Sylvester. Sylvester purchased the farm in the spring of 1946.
The first job for Sylvester and Neil was getting the farm back in shape after the previous owner’s attempt to grow grapes. “He didn’t do any good with his grapes,” Sylvester said. “They didn’t have much of a market for them. My brother and I put in about two years cleaning up the mess on 20 acres. There were grapevines and wires all through the fields.”
By 1952, both brothers had married and Neil and his wife had moved to town, leaving Sylvester and his wife, Juanita, to take over the farm.
During the time he has farmed the 298 acres, Sylvester has incorporated many changes in farming methods in order to keep up with the times and make a living. He originally raised many hogs. “Really, I made more money on the hogs than I did cattle back then,” he said.
These days Sylvester and his grandson, Brandon House, try to keep about 60 head of beef cows on the farm. “I used to keep Hereford cattle all the time,” Sylvester stated. “Then I got to crossing them up. They’re kind of crossed up with several different breeds now. I had a Charolais bull one time and there are some of them that got a little Charolais in them.”
In order to accommodate his job at Donald Farm and Lawn in Lebanon, Mo., while caring for the cattle, Brandon is introducing a little black Angus into the herd. “They’re supposed to calve a little easier, so I don’t have to worry about it when I’m at work,” he explained.
Brandon and Sylvester raise their own hay and at age 92 Sylvester still plays an active role in the hay harvest. According to Sylvester’s granddaughter Cheryl Brown, “Grandpa does quite a bit of the hay. He mows and bales. Mom (Linda House) does a lot of raking and Brandon does a little of all of it.”
“He’ll get something started and get a field opened up. By the time I get home off work, I’ll finish it up,” explained Brandon. “Things have sure changed in my lifetime on the farm, I guess like everything else,” mused Sylvester. “When I started out, I plowed with horses and mules. I’ve plowed every field on the place with horses. I bought my first tractor in 1949.
“He’s proud of me most of the time unless I sneak something in on him he doesn’t know about. Grandpa took me out hunting and showed me how to use a chainsaw; showed me how to work with cattle and have patience,” Brandon concluded.
