Missouri Neighbors

For those driving along Farm Road 1090 in Purdy, Mo., chances are that a red building with a large sign that reads “Edgewood Creamery” will catch their eye.

The old adage “raised in a barn” was quite literal for Ellie Melton, who has been milking ever since she can remember.

Rich Townsend is originally from Indiana, his wife, Theresa, is from Arkansas. They met at the Arkansas State Fair and have been married almost 18 years.

Dorsey and Kathy Demott will be the first to admit their registered Balancer cows are spoiled.

White-faced Dorset sheep can be seen grazing the pastures near the home of Ronnie and Debbie Dains, residents of Rockville, Mo.

On the picturesque 10-acre Holaday Farm near Springfield, Mo., in Greene County, Barbara Holaday raises Boer goats.

Checkerhill Angus in West Plains, Mo., operates with a dual focus when it comes to raising cattle.

Connie Brooks of Fair Grove, Mo., admits that her highly-muscled cattle get a few looks, but what else do you expect when you breed the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the cattle world?

Keith Stevens, and his wife Beverly, call western Polk County, Mo., home, but much of his time is spent on the road, traveling to various county cattlemen’s meetings, agricultural events and visiting with legislators promoting policy in Jefferson City and Washington D.C.

“When I retired from the Army, I’d lived all around the country and decided the Ozarks was the place for us. We bought a farm, built a new house, started with cattle. Very quickly, I learned a lot,” Butch Ferguson said as he explained how he came to the Ozarks. He and his wife, JoEllen, a nurse with the Wounded Warrior Project, have 190 acres in rural Pulaski County, Mo., just south of the St. Robert-Waynesville area.