Missouri Neighbors

Piney River Valley Sheep is located west of Licking, Mo., literally on the east bank of Big Piney River. Ray and Pam Wallace have lived there almost 40 years and have had several types of farming operations. Ray is a retired union lineman from Intercounty Electric. Pam was the licensing agent for the Department of Revenue in Licking for several years and more recently has been employed at Wal-Mart for the past eight years. In 2006 they purchased their first sheep and they quickly became Pam’s pet project and captured the hearts of their grandchildren, Cole who is 9 years old and Linzie who is 7. Both are very involved with the sheep on a daily basis as well as in the show ring.

The Osage orange tree, also known as a hedge apple has been a part of the landscape of Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas long before the white settlers moved in. Historically speaking the wood has been used as an excellent heating fuel, fence posts and in the making of the world’s best archery bows. However, Bronaugh, Mo., student and local FFA chapter member Cole Diggins got an idea from his grandfather and revived using the hedge apple as a green alternative for home insect control.

Managing Flying Miner Ranch like a true business and budgeting every expense is the recipe for success according to Parker Vandivort of Hartville, Mo.

After spending their childhoods enduring the endless chores of their families’ dairy farms, both Wayne and Connie Galbraith swore off following in their parents’ footsteps. They both chuckle about their adamant pledge to stay out of the cattle business as they look out on their herd of Limousin cattle in Marshfield, Mo. “You have to enjoy it. And we really do enjoy it,” said Connie Galbraith.

Danny Fanning of Joplin, Mo., is a man with a busy mind and restless spirit. The one constant thing in his life has always been his love for livestock, more yet the love for purebred cattle. Danny said, “Showing my first heifer when I was 6 started my whole life’s career. I remember it just like it was yesterday, caring for my first heifer project and showing her for the first time. Our three children were all raised in the 4-H program and now 60 years later some of my grandkids are heading down that path. I love it and it’s what keeps me going.”

Reggie Terry has lived on a farm all his life. His dad was a dairy farmer, but Reggie didn’t go into that. Around 1984, he started buying and raising bottle calves. He came across some crossbred heifers and decided to start a beef cow herd.

Education, grazing systems and records are important tools on Reisner Ranch in Rolla, Mo., owned and operated by Craig and Susan Reisner and their two children Renee and Keith.

Ask Fred and Linda Schupbach of Ozark, Mo., what they think of their Dorper cross sheep and they’ll tell you that Dorpers make better mothers, sell at a better price and have minimal birth problems. Six years ago, Fred and Linda began their journey with meat sheep as a bit of an experiment; today, what started out as a group of nine sheep has grown into a healthy flock of 140 head that Fred and Linda are very proud of. “We really like the sheep,” Linda said. The sheep flock shares the Schupbach’s Lone Pine Ranch with 40 head of Boer goats, three cows, four Missouri Foxtrotters and one pony, a flock of guineas, two guard dogs and two female Border Collies, Kempee and Cricket, who are trained to herd the sheep.

Profitable farming may soon be an oxymoron like the phrase ‘honest politicians,’ but for Kevin and Toni Beatty of Thousand Oaks Ranch in Carl Junction, Mo., agriculture has turned into a booming business. In what some would say is a daring total conversion from bovines to ovines, the Beattys dumped their Limousin cattle for the greener pastures afforded to them by Katahdin sheep.

As the bitter cold of winter descends upon farmlands, dread creeps into the minds of some farmers. The cost of extra feed and hay, the worry of calving in frigid temperatures or the trouble of breaking ice on frozen ponds can all add stress to cattlemen this time of year. But Dave Loftin skates through winter with relative ease. He attributes his less-stressful winters to his Beefmaster cattle and his low-input farming philosophy.