Missouri Neighbors

"Ten years ago, it started as a joke,” Katie Stewart, vice president of the Southwest Missouri Goat Producers Association, explained how her family’s involvement with Boer goats began. “Bob (Katie’s husband) brought home three baby goats from the sale barn for our children. He called them 'weed eaters' and from there…” she waved a hand towards the lot full of 40 South African goats known for their meat production.

John Love is a thinker, and he’s always thinking of things to improve his family’s farm in St. Clair County, Mo.

After 34 years of teaching, Bill Roberts hung up his hat and retired at the end of the 2010 school year. He spent the last 25 years teaching Agriculture Education at Marshfield High School.

Former ranchers, originally from Arizona, Margo Chilcott and her husband, Brian, came to the Ozarks seven years ago and fell in love with a place, a 100-acre valley outside West Plains, Mo., in rural Howell County. Both currently work in real estate in southern Missouri.

The tales that Jerry Crownover documents in his column Life is Simple have brought Ozarks farmers laughs throughout the years and stories to be passed on at local coffee shops in every small town. Friends getting their tractors stuck in frozen ponds, dead cows sliding down the hill or even memories of what he learned as an agriculture teacher about the real way to farm – Jerry has shared much insight about rural life and the changes in the industry. But, what about the man behind Life is Simple?

What has four legs, a tail, likes to work and has ears almost as long as your arm? Why, a mule, of course. A mule is a hybrid cross between a mare and a jack – with a combination of such diverse traits, you get the best of both worlds: the size of a horse, the stamina of a donkey and who can forget those famous ears? Bill Jackson, of Ozark, Mo., in Christian County knows these hybrid equines inside and out – he has spent more than 50 years of his life with them. “I’d rather work a mule anytime than a horse,” he said.

Josh Titus, of Lebanon, Mo., knows that every situation can turn into a learning opportunity and that is the exact mindset he has used when it comes to horsemanship.

Mark Gronniger grew up in Dallas County but went into farming with a plan, as he put it, while he was still serving with the Marines. Kim, originally a city girl from Iowa, stated she met her husband while living on an Iowa farm, when he was working as a Marine recruiter there. “He recruited me, too,” she laughed. Afterwards, Mark and Kim came home to Dallas County where they raised four children on their 420 acres, outside Long Lane, Mo. Today, all but one has left home. Mark and Kim are raising 110 momma cows, calves and Red Angus bulls.