Arkansas Neighbors

Just off highway 82 in northeastern Oklahoma, there is a green metal barn housing one innovative poultry business. The flock of chickens cared for there is among the healthiest possible, and is produced with several all-natural methods.

John Ely has been in the grass business for more than 40 years.

Jimmy Stephens was born into a family that gave him two dreams. One of those dreams, or passions, as Jimmy called it, stemmed from riding around in the pickup truck with his grandfather when he was a young boy, while he checked cattle. The other dream stemmed from an uncle that worked in law enforcement. Jimmy started working in law enforcement first, by becoming an Arkansas State Trooper, but he still had a longing to have a ranch of his own. So, in 1995, Jimmy bought a ranch just off of I-40 Interstate, with a creek running through it. He raises registered Black Angus and Brangus cattle, and has built a working barn and pens along with a dog kennel for his Catahoula cow dogs.

The Talihina, Okla., area – talk about scenic beauty. Some of the best scenery in the world can be found right in the backyard of Gerald and Jana Knapp, owners of  Knapp Ranch. The Knapps raise Charolais bulls, even though with the wet and snowy weather of late, those bulls have been more brownish-gray in color.

You can take the boy out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy. Yes, Bill Schaeffer is pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Omaha, Ark., and head of its preschool through 12th grade school. And, yes, he runs Schaeffer Cedar Sawmill. But at heart he’s first a farmer who loves the Limousin cattle he’s raised since 1998.

Ralph Moore, of Lincoln, Ark., has spent the better part of his adult life around Simmental cattle. And that's just how he wants it to be.

During lambing season on Old Lexington Farms, Tom and Sharon Nowlin walk the fields every night looking for newborn lambs. The ewe’s udder fills with colostrum shortly before labor begins. A colostrum meal provides not only energy, but antibodies vital for the young lamb’s health. Immediately after the ewe gives birth, Tom milks from the mother ewe 6 ounces of colostrum per newborn lamb of singles, twins or triplets, making sure each gets the necessary colostrum within the first hour. Tom stays until each lamb is able to stand and adequately move about, then administers essential vaccinations and iodine to navels.

Dave Umfleet has a passion for producing seedstock Simmentals. He spends hours studying pedigrees and learning as much as he can about Simmental genetics. Dave and his wife, Debbie, focus on producing the best cattle possible for other producers to use for donor cows and bulls.

Bob Geneva is proof that when one door closes, there is always a window opened. Nineteen years ago, Bob and his wife, Sandra, were at a Beefmaster show in Tulsa, Okla., when they walked by a booth for Postive Feed, Ltd., out of Sealy, Texas. After learning about the advantages and technologies used in Postive Feed, Bob and Sandra decided that they wanted to try some of the feed on their own herd of Beefmaster cattle, but there was one small problem. Postive Feed tubs were only available for sale in Amarillo and Sealy, Texas. Of course, neither town was an easy trip from the Geneva’s then-home of Coweta, Okla. So, Postive Feed, Ltd. founder Bob Inglish, often called “Crazy” Bob, convinced them to become dealers for Postive Feed, and Bob and Sandra agreed and came home with $5,000 worth of Postive's feed. Their hopes were that they could make enough from their sales of Inglish's product to make it worth their while to feed their own herd. Thankfully, Bob said, it did not take long for the feed to prove itself. The partnership definitely became worth their while.

Dwight Hoyle is what you might call a jack-of-all-trades kind of man.  He and his wife, Robin, started out in Zwolle, La., with a forestry business, along with a saw shop.