• Hometown: Sarcoxie, Mo
• Family: Parents Glenn and Anna Bittick; brothers Bryan and Jason Bittick; and sisters Carol Meyer and Johnna Greathouse
In Town: Randy Bittick started working part time at Leggett & Platt in Carthage, Mo., 21 years ago while he was in college. He is now a full-time laborer at the company’s wire mill. He welds wire and sends it down the line. Randy has dual degree in animal science and agronomy from Missouri State University, but said he could make a good living at Leggett & Platt, so that is where he has stayed. “It works out pretty good for having a farm because it gives me more hours here,” he said.
In the Country: Randy grew up on the farm he lives on today in Sarcoxie, Mo. He farms with his dad Glenn and together they have around 75 Angus crossbred cow/calf pairs. Randy also has 80 Boer cross goats and one crossbred pig. He owns 15 acres of his own, and his dad has around 400 acres which are all pretty close to the homestead. The goats run on the 40 acres at his home and the cows are on about 200 acres of pasture. They farm with one tractor and minimal equipment.
“I pretty well take care of the land to pay for me being able to run my livestock on his land. I just enjoy being around animals and being outside. I started in with goats because they were bushhogs. They were saving me time and fuel on the tractor.”
His dad is now retired so he feeds hay with the tractor during the colder months. Randy would like to invest in better fences so he can run the goats on more ground. He said he learned a lot about animals and agronomy in school but most of what he knows about farming he learned from his dad.
