Hamilton Native Outpost
Location: Elk Creek, Mo.
Owners: Rex and Amy Hamilton
Sales Manager: Elizabeth Steele (pictured)
History: Rex and Amy Hamilton began harvesting, cleaning and selling warm-season grasses in 1981. As they spent time in the fields and on the prairies harvesting native grasses, they began to take note of the wildflowers. They harvested their first wildflowers by hand in 1987. Today, Hamilton Native Outpost and the Hamiltons raise, harvest, clean, package and sell native grass and wildflower seeds.
Products: Hamilton Native Outpost offers many unique and native seeds.
“These are the plants that were here when Columbus landed in America,” Elizabeth said of her family’s business, which employees about 15 people. “These are the ones that the Indians, the Native Americans, saw on these lands. The seeds we offer are ones we raise from production to sales, plus a few species that we work with other growers to raise for us.
“There are government-sponsored programs, like the Conservation Reserve Program, that target highly erodible lands that encourage people to plant wild native plants to save the land and prevent erosion.”
Livestock are, and always have been, an integral part of the operation.
The family’s cow/calf herd is managed in such a way so as to complement seed production; at times, the cattle are used as a tool for managing the seed production fields.
Hamilton Native Outpost also raises pastured pigs.
“Native plants also make great forage for livestock. We’ve begun to hear in recent years how detrimental fescue is on livestock. Our experience has also shown that livestock raised on warm season grasses do much better,”
Hamilton Native Outpost offers various workshops, pasture walks, and other educational events at their Elk Creek location throughout the growing season.
“There are lots of ways to use native seeds and plants,” Elizabeth concluded. “Some people plant them, just because it feels right, a way to return something to the land and it gives them a really good feeling.”
