Horse Dancing
Laura Alms might well be called a “horse dancer.”
In the arena, she is one with the horse she rides. With gentle nudges, infinitesimal shifts of weight and silent direction, she leads her equine partner in graceful choreography. They glide and turn in perfect harmony around their equestrian ballroom.
A Place For All
It was a couple of Percherons that got Kirsten and Al Kosinski into the livestock business. After experiencing draft horses on a Christmas tree farm near their home in southern Michigan, the Kosinskis knew a life without a little livestock was no life for them. Two draft horses, 50 goats, a small herd of sheep, three Scottish Highlander cattle, two geese and a flock of chickens later, Kirsten and Al haven’t looked back.
What’s Wrong with that Goat?
Goats have always had a place in the meat and milk markets. Here in southwest Missouri they’re not yet as prevalent as cattle, but herds are popping up everywhere. And then there's fainting goats. Recently there has been a new rise in public interest on the species, but it’s not the Grand Champions or best producers receiving all the attention. Instead, the excitement has been over these “fainting goats.” Major media attention has won these cute and comical creatures some time in the national spotlight.
On the Cutting Edge
Monty Williamson said of his barn full of cutting horses they are “a play pretty that got out of hand.” In 1992 Monty thought he wanted to get a cutting horse so he bought a couple of fillies to raise and have trained. “There was a period there where you could sell weanlings at a nice price, so I purchased two, three, maybe four more mares,” he recalled with a smile and a sly glance at his wife, Georgia. “I had the good fortune of owning a stallion named Docs Halestorm, and the bad habit of keeping all the fillies. Most of our broodmares are Halestorm daughters.”
Cattle V. Ethanol
With the familiar economic downturn, rising gas prices and a steady increase in food and energy costs, what, if anything, is to blame? Could one of the main contributors of these problems be something so cleverly disguised as corn based ethanol? According to BJ Neill of Bolivar, Mo., the answer is “yes.”
Breed the Best and Ride the Rest
Breed an average cow to an average bull and no matter what color or breed, the end product is beef and it can be sold at the sale barn or put on the table.
More Bang for Your Buck
Two important points make Beefmaster the breed of choice for Ray Bohannon. To him, they are easy calvers and they are low-maintenance.
Fighting Burning Questions
With corn at $5.50 a bushel, probably not too many people are throwing it into a furnace.
Lawrence County poultry producer Roger Schnake is one of the exceptions.
Lawrence County poultry producer Roger Schnake is one of the exceptions.
An Insider in the Industry
Value Added.
It is an overused term in business. When you sell what many others sell, what sets your product apart will be the “value added.”
It is an overused term in business. When you sell what many others sell, what sets your product apart will be the “value added.”
Prime Genetics, Premium Cattle
A future in the agricultural field has been a life long dream, or better stated, a desire for Ted Koontz. Upon retirement from a career in the banking business, Ted, along with his wife Becky, now is enjoying the good life of farming. Entrepreneurs are the best way to describe the couple's diversified cattle and haying operation and the way the Koontz's approach their livelihood.
