Neighbors

When Susie Means was a little girl, her grandpa, Carthel Means, encouraged her interest in his tractor. “When I was little he would let me cut hay with that big green tractor,” Susie said. “I was going really slowly. He told me to kick it up. Then he told me one day, I’m going to get you to where you can hook it and run it all by yourself. And he did,” she continued.

Agritourism is a growing industry in Arkansas supported by a detailed website for 345 locations throughout the state that includes livestock, wineries, horse camps, crops and farmers markets. With Halloween just around the corner, pumpkin patches and mazes are in full swing. McGarrah Farms Pumpkin Patch in Pea Ridge, Ark., contains both a pumpkin patch and a maze.

Rick Stanislaus was raised in Watts, Okla., and followed a long route until he finally returned to the area and became the ag teacher at Watts High School.

Jim Nichols was raised around Missouri Fox Trotters in the Mansfield, Mo., area and his father was on the original Missouri Fox Trotters Horse Breed Association Board of Directors. Likewise, he brought up his daughters, Mitzi and Monica around the breed as well and they have all spent years in the show ring at various horse shows in Ava, Mo., the Fox Trotter capital of the world. In the past three decades, however, Jim has discovered a new passion, involving his beloved horses. “I went on my first elk hunt with the horses when a friend invited me and I’ve been going back ever since, for 25 years in a row now. My daughters, Mitzi and Monica go, too, as do their husbands and we have a great time,” Jim Nichols explained recently standing beside one of his horse trailers at his home in Laclede County, just south of Lebanon, Mo. “I have a few horses here, one in training, some others at Mitzi’s and at Monica’s. We just have 14 acres here for the horses.”

Owned by Lesley and Barry Million, Terrell Creek Farm is located in Webster County near Fordland, Mo. They got their first goats in 2007 for their own personal use. Lesley stated, “We started the business in 2011. It was kind of a justification for me to be able to have goats.”

Marvin Burnett is retired from the Missouri Department of Transportation where he worked on highway maintenance while his wife, Barbara, is a retired elementary schoolteacher. The couple met early in life when Barbara’s father was hired to move Marvin’s family from Kansas to Arkansas when Marvin was a senior in high school and Barbara was in junior high. Barbara said, “At the time I was a snot-nosed kid no one wanted to be around, but I grew up and everything changed.” Marvin said, “One night we were both stood up and decided to make the best of it.” They began dating and have now been married for 49 years.

The code of the West is that a man’s word is as good as his bond. This is the philosophy behind Chimney Rock Cattle Company and the GENETRUST partnership.

Assessing goats should begin with the reason why you are choosing to breed and raise them. Mother, Debbie and daughter, Kellie Williams, of Chelsea, Okla., made a careful selection process when they decided to raise goats on their Misty Moon Farm. “You need to learn about your animals then you can see what and when something needs done. Some people want to buy a goat to keep their lawn mowed down. Goats are not grazers; they are browsers, like a deer. A good blackberry bramble or your favorite rose bush is a five-star meal to a goat,” said Debbie.

Ken and Charla Myers live southeast of Siloam Springs, Ark., where Ken is a full-time farmer and Charla an elementary education and ESL teacher in Fayetteville, Ark., with 29 years of experience behind her. The couple lives on 120 acres and farms another 80 acres of Ken’s grandmother’s estate. They run two cattle herds, a commercial herd of 33 Black Baldie and Charolais/Angus mommas and a 50 plus registered momma Hereford herd.

When Robert Todd hit the age threshold for showing cattle and hogs through FFA, he walked away from the show ring thinking he had closed that chapter of his life for good. But now, after almost a decade, Robert’s back in the ring, but this time it’s all for his kids. “It is basically set up for the kids to learn how a farm operates and learn the work involved. We teach them hands-on everything,” explained Robert Todd. In 2012, Robert and his wife, Heather, decided to buy Spots pigs for their two young sons and their niece and nephew. The Spots breed holds fond memories for Robert, who showed Spots as a teenager. “The thing I like about the Spots is you never know if they are going to be more dominant black or white. They look like Dalmatian puppies when they are born,” said Robert. The Spots breed dates back to the 1900s in Indiana where it was developed from the lines of the Poland China breed. Spots are known for their fast-growing and efficient offspring.