Paul and Jennifer Walley moved to rural Polk County, outside Bolivar, Mo., from Florida, looking for a place with better milk laws and more conservative values for their growing family. They brought their sons and a couple of cows from Florida and settled on 24 acres in the Ozarks.
“We wanted a place where we could raise our own beef, chickens and produce our own milk and eggs. That’s what we do now for ourselves and we sell the extra,” Jennifer explained recently, surrounded by her eight sons with her baby girl, 15-month-old Grace seated in her lap.
Today, Paul raises Belted Galloways in addition to working from home for Naylor LLC, an integrated media company for associations. Jennifer, 17-year-old Seth, and the rest of the boys keep up with two Jersey milk cows, chickens, Pilgrim geese, Shetland sheep and Nubian goats, which they also milk. All of the children are also home-schooled.
“The Belted Galloways are a Heritage breed,” Paul explained. “It’s an older breed, originating from Galloway in southwest Scotland. They are naturally polled. Our herd is black but there are also red and dun Belted Galloway cattle. A historic breed like this makes for a purer genetic line.”
There are less than half a dozen registered Belted Galloway breeders in Missouri, according to the U.S. Belted Galloway Society. Paul acknowledged that his are an unusual breed in this part of the country. The company he works for recently acquired the account for The Belted Galloway Journal so he is now able to combine two of his major interests.
Neither Paul nor Jennifer grew up on a farm so they readily admit they are experimenting and learning as they go. “It’s a great place to raise boys as they learn responsibility, farm life, where their food comes from and even anatomy. They get that when they help butcher 50 chickens,” Jennifer added.
Sons Seth age 17, 15-year-old twins Joel and Ben, Daniel age 12, Luke age 10, Oliver age 8, Elias age 6 and Isaiah age 3 1/2 have their own view about life on the farm as well. “I’m in charge of all the milking,” Seth commented, “and I’m planning on becoming a veterinarian. I like living out in the country.”
“I like all the animals,” Ben added. “I also like it because we have good property here.” All the boys have definitive opinions about what they would like to do when they are grown, including 8-year-old Oliver who wants to be a horse trainer.
Whatever their choices down the road, it is obvious that Paul and Jennifer Walley’s finest harvest at Legacy Farms is a crop of handsome well-mannered growing sons and one small daughter.
