Neighbors

Two families in the small White County, Ark., town of Floyd are united in the goal of bringing the best Brahman cattle seedstock to the world.

Twenty-six years ago, Corneliu Gradinariu left everything he had ever known in his homeland of Romania and headed for the border of Yugoslavia.

Marketing strategies are as unique as the cattle producers themselves. Some venture into the fray of social media or online sales, while others utilize familiar methods, such as, local sale barns.

Only four years into Angus production, Reid Roberts of Sparta, Mo., knows what he wants and has a plan for getting there.

Billy Williams is the “Marlboro Man” of Vinita, Okla.

Phil Hofschulte of Miami, Okla., was an agriculture teacher for 29 years in Wyandotte, Okla., retiring in 2013. He and his wife Jan own and lease 600 acres, the base of operations for Hofschulte Show Pigs and Sires, as well as a commercial cattle herd. The couple met after a Wyandotte football game when Phil came in from a typical late-night of working with students.

For the last generation, thousands of kids and their parents have flocked every fall to the Schaefers and Collins Pumpkin Farm near Mayflower, Ark. In addition to experiencing the thrill of riding the hay wagon to the pumpkin patch, where they can pick out their own gourds to be carved into Jack-O-Lanterns, they can play games, challenge the corn maze, and buy farm-fresh treats. And the families that put on the annual festival always make sure there’s something new for their annual visitors.

The seed of success begin to grow when Dylan Massa attended the National FFA Convention as a freshman and watched the awarding of the American Star Farmer. Dylan lives just outside Lamar, Mo., and is a member of the Liberal FFA Chapter, where his advisors were the late Ron Dickens and Allie Runnels. Dylan has been selected as one of the four 2015 American Star Farmer Finalists, among thousands of American FFA Degree recipients. The American Star Farmer award is the highest recognition in the nation for young farmers to achieve.

Though life is filled with uncertainty, Sandy Arthur has always been sure about one thing.

The Equi-Librium Therapy Center has been called, “The best kept secret in the area.”