Hometown: Morrisville, Mo.
Family: Wife Susan; son Brody Huff and his wife Brandy; daughter Ashley Campbell and her husband Nathan; and son Garrett Huff
In Town: Craig is a membership service representative at Southwest Electric Cooperative in Bolivar, Mo. He has been with the cooperative for 26 years.
In the Country: Craig and Susan own farms that have been in their families for generations.
“I grew up on the farm where my cows are,” Craig said. “We have two different farms, one from my family and the other from Sue’s side; they are both Century Farms. I grew up raising and showing Polled Herefords through FFA.”
Today, the Herefords have been replaced with commercial cattle.
“I run about 20 cows,” Craig said. “I ran cow/calf for a long time, and then I decided to try to background steers. I did that for a few years, then decided I missed little babies running around the pastures, so I’ve gotten back into the cow/calf. I had to go buy everything to get restarted, and now I’m to the point where I can start keeping back some heifers and building some of my own.”
Craig said he would like to build his herd and implement a rotational grazing system on 90 acres of pasture. The remainder of the 237 acres he and Susan own are mostly timber. Craig is also able to harvest hay from his acreage.
“If I get that put in, I can, maybe, run 25 cows,” he said. “I also keep a few head at the house that I’m feeding to butcher, and I bring my bull here when I pull him from the cows.”
Craig’s herd is currently calving in the spring and fall.
“I wanted all calving, but I had some cows that didn’t breed back quick enough,” he said, adding that he would eventually like to have all his calves born in the fall. “I really like the fall calving because you don’t have the flies, and it doesn’t seem like there are as many health issues.”
Craig is currently utilizing a Hereford/Angus/Beefmaster cross bull.
In addition to the cattle operation, Craig has ventured into beekeeping.
“A year ago, we got a couple of hives, then we got another one this year,” Craig explained. “I also caught several swarms this spring, so we’re looking to build it up by the time I retire and be able to sell some honey.”
Beekeeping was something Susan encouraged.
“I kept pushing it off,” Craig added. “About a year ago, there was a bee club having a meeting for beginning beekeeping. It was on a Saturday, and it happened to be raining that day, so I told her we couldn’t do anything on the farm, so let’s go. I ended up getting a little more interested in it than she did.”
In addition to his farm, Craig is a cultivator of his community. He is the current president of the Polk County Extension Council and vice president of the board of directors for Hope’s Safe Haven, a shelter and resource for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
