Missouri Neighbors

"It's all about Cody,” is the philosophy Brian and Melissa Jacobs use on their Hawk Shadow Farms, located on the Wright-Douglas county line. Cody is Brian and Melissa's 4-year-old son and they are evolving their goat and cattle operation to meet his interests and safety. For example, Cody attended his first goat shows this year at the Ozark Empire and Missouri State Fairs. Melissa said that since Cody showed an interest in showing goats, they plan to cut back on their commercial herd and purchase more full-bloods.

Bill and Reta Wehmeier, of rural Phelps County, have found ways to blend old-fashioned farm family traditions with modern marketing practices to produce a successful 21st Century operation. They are the proud owners of a historic Angus herd. “That's a herd that's been going for more than 50 years, according to the American Angus Association,” Bill explained recently on his farm outside St. James, Mo.

Groves-View Dairy welcomed more than 170 dairy producers for a field day in July, hosted by the Missouri Holstein Association. The dairy originated in 1913 and is being passed on to Todd and Brad Groves.

Don and Artie Hughes started small in the cattle business in 1979, with four Angus cows. Thirty years later, they are going strong, in a seed stock operation, which now includes their son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Debbie Hughes. For the past 10 years, they have found reporting calving data to the Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR) through the American Angus Association to be an extraordinary performance advantage.

"He’s got about 10 years on me," chuckled Lydia Ernszt, talking about her husband Andy and the years experience with cattle. “We’ve been working these cattle together on this farm since 2001," she said.

For a retired man, Bob Watkins admits to being a busy man. After 27 years in commercial construction in the St. Louis area, he has spent the last 20 years back in his home area along the Phelps-Maries County line, raising cattle and working in the restaurant business. And that’s what he calls retirement.

Jerry Pegelow grew up in the farming country of northern Illinois. “We, my son and I,  were housed out of farming,” is the way he put it. Coming from a strong background in farming livestock and cash grains, Jerry Pegelow has seen a lot of changes. The family farm consisted of over 1,000 acres in far northeast Illinois. Much of the land was being swallowed up by urban sprawl and corporate expansion. “Where we grew corn and soy beans they now grow concrete and black top. Chicago and Milwaukee will run into each other soon,” Jerry said.

"We want to be able to sell good,quality animals to commercial producers at a good price,” explained Steve Craig, of Summersville, Mo. “I’ve been that commercial producer and I know it can be expensive, but I want to provide quality bulls to help those commercial guys make more money in the end, at the sale barn.”

Jerry Letterman, of rural Webster County, and his brother, George, built five feed bays in 1985 to feed their own dairy cattle and within short order, almost without realizing it, Jerry discovered he was in the feed business.

Frank Martin has been around horses his entire adult life. Today, he serves as secretary of the Missouri Equine Council. “My wife Dianne actually got to talking with the director of the council and offered me up for a position on the board, but I’m very happy to be involved,” he smiled.