With the average age of the American farmer around 65, it’s evident that not too many children are coming back home to continue the family farm. But the statistic doesn't hold true for Doug Fare in Jenkins, Mo. His farm has been in the Fare family well over 100 years.
“I remember hearing my grandpa talk about how they raised a lot of wheat and had a dairy farm,” said Doug. The dairy operation continued down through the generations. When Doug was a young boy he helped bottle feed the calves. “I started with my own dairy right after high school,” he said, “and continued in the dairy business for 15 years until running a dairy was no longer profitable and then I moved into the beef industry.”
Doug took over his family's Century Farm in 1993. The farm consists of 112 acres with several ponds, a well, and a few springs bubbling up this year because of the excess rainfall. “We have 60 acres of good alfalfa that is divided for rotational grazing. I’m a grass farmer,” he added. In addition to growing excellent stands of alfalfa, Doug raises purebred Gelbvieh cattle. He purchased his first 24 Gelbvieh females four years ago, and has continued to grow his herd from the original 24. He said he has been purposeful in buying only the best breeding stock. He is critical on which animals to weed out to maintain the integrity of the herd. Today he has 46 cows and nine breeding bulls and also runs a hay operation. He feeds with his own hay and sells some as well.
Doug is sold on the Gelbvieh breed because he likes their easy-going temperament, their excellent mothering ability and their consistent growth and high weaning weights. “I’ve been around cattle all my life,” he said, “and a lot has changed. Farmers have gotten a lot better at utilizing our grasses, and the Gelbvieh cattle do well on the pasture here.” He added that he likes the variation within the breed as well. “There is as much deviation between Gelbviehs as there are between totally different breeds,” he added.
The Gelbviehs are marketed mostly through private treaty. Doug tries to have breeding age bulls available to sell for the spring/fall breeding seasons, though his herd is predominantly fall calving. “Eventually I’d like to grow to and maintain 75 females. I want to sell bulls and some females off those and keep back some breeding bulls and replacement heifers. I want to sell at least 30 bulls annually.”
In addition to running the farm, Doug runs a fencing business. He does chain link fences, privacy fences, barbed wire fences and most other types of fencing. He also enjoys breaking up his day by driving a bus for the local school during the school year.
Doug has four children, three step children, and four grandchildren. His son, GW Fare runs a beef cattle operation in Lawrence County and will soon take over his family’s century farm. “The original owner in our family went by the name of WG Fare. It’s interesting that I named my son GW without ever really knowing the full history of the Fare family." This is one farming legacy that won’t follow the trend of the American farmer, but will hopefully set a trend of its own.
