Danny Chrisman owns and lives on the farm his father once owned. Although his dad owned the farm, they lived in Springfield, Mo. “I lived near Phelps Grove Park, and eventually moved east of Chestnut Expressway,” he said.
Danny bought the farm from his sisters after their father passed away. He said, “These days a lot of farms are being sold. It’s too bad some of the family doesn’t want to keep them. Maybe brothers or sisters are out of town and don’t want any part of it, so they sell it. I think there should be some way for one to keep it, but it’s hard to do. I was fortunate to get the whole farm.”
The whole farm is 240 acres near Strafford, Mo. Danny gave 10 acres to his son, Charlie, to build a house. Unlike his father, Charlie grew up on the farm, and although he only owns 10 acres, he works the entire farm. Danny said, “Charlie does all the hay. I broke him in on a 4020 John Deere. He hauled round bales when he had to stand up to see what he was doing.”
Now 31-years-old, Charlie and wife, Christy, are raising their daughters, Taylor and Bailey, on the farm.
Danny is very proud of his son’s farming abilities and accomplishments. When it comes to farming techniques and decisions, Danny said, “I agree with him because he knows more about it than I do.”
Danny said the smartest farming decision he ever made was “when I bought this farm.” His worst decision was an unfortunate matter of timing. “I put in new fence before the ice storm.” Between the ice storm and the tornado, Danny said they still don’t have the entire fence repaired.
Charlie said his best decision, though, was “to live on a farm; to be a farmer.” The most important lesson his father taught Charlie was “to work hard.” Like his dad, he has a job away from the farm. Charlie works for Larson John Deere in Rogersville, delivering tractors. Danny is the maintenance supervisor at Missouri State University and has worked there for 20 years.
Both men have cattle. Danny has 35 cows plus calves and Charlie has 72 cows plus calves. They have Angus, Charolais, and Simmental crossed with Angus.
Danny said, “We have mostly Angus. We’ve never had a calving problem with them, and there’s a big demand now for Angus.” Charlie prefers Simmental crossed with Angus. Simmentals, because of the big frame and they milk good.
"But I’ve just now gotten into the Angus in the last year or two; just crossing them. There are a lot of people getting into the half-breeds. It’s kind of the best of both worlds; milk and they grow good. Angus will really grow probably better once you get them weaned, or they seem to,” Danny said.
The Chrismans feed fescue and clover hay, and Charlie just recently planted wheat. According to Charlie, the amount of seed you sow depends on what you intend to use it for. “For hay, you do more seed, and less for combining. You can get by with less, but it’s better to have more.”
They don’t buy hay, they sell. Charlie said, “I put up around 1,600 round bales this year. Most of it’s just for myself, but we have a dairy we sell to pretty regular.”
Like most farmers, Danny and Charlie agree that one of their biggest problems is the high cost of fertilizer and fuel. Charlie said, “You’ve just got to hang on.”
The best advice Danny had for young farmers was, “hard work and determination.”
Charlie added, “If you’ve got the opportunity, and want to do it (farming), you’d better do it. It’s a good life.”
