Neighbors

Age is just a number for Honey Reese, 17 of Sallisaw, Okla. Honey may only be a high school senior set to graduate in May, but she’s taking on and accomplishing her dreams.

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.

When Robert Redford needed an adviser for the movie, The Horse Whisperer, he found Curt Pate – a world-renowned stockmanship expert. When Heath Kohler from Ratcliff Ranches in Vinita, Okla., needed an adviser for low stress cow handling, he and Dr. Clint Gardner, a veterinarian in Pryor, Okla., found the “cow mumbler,” as he is known. The owner of Ratcliff Ranches, Jim Ratlciff, liked the idea and hosted the event. Heath and Dr. Gardner contacted Kara Jett of Boehringer Ingelheim Vet Medica, Inc., and Heather Buckmaster of the Oklahoma Beef Council and all together sponsored the event which discussed animal health and how to handle cattle.

On the outskirts of Fayetteville, Ark., is a 5-acre show pig operation known as HogWild Showpigs owned and operated by Jeremy and Dawn Mabry. Jeremy teaches elementary PE in Fayetteville while Dawn, a University of Arkansas employee for 15 years, currently works as a records analyst in the Office of Development.

Jim and Elsie Parker own 280 acres and lease 300 acres in Stilwell, Okla. They raise registered Black Angus using 100 momma’s including 16 heifers and four breeding bulls for cleanup. Both Jim and Elsie came from agricultural backgrounds. Jim remembers feeding cattle when he was in the first grade because his father was gone all week as a traveling carpenter. Elsie, on the other hand, remembers shucking corn for the family’s hogs when she was very young. The couple met through FFA in high school when Elsie was helping her brother with his FFA sheep and Jim came over. Jim and Elsie began dating and later married in 1960. Elsie said, “In those days there was no FFA for girls but our oldest daughter, Tammy Bartholomew, was one of the first girls in FFA in Stilwell and is now an Ag teacher in Missouri.” All three of their children, Tammy, Cindy and Randy were active members in the Stilwell FFA Chapter and showed cattle.

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.

A rare warm day in December is a welcome reprieve for anyone from the frigid grey clouds of winter. Yet, for a cattle rancher like Steve Parker warm weather is a blessing. Standing in the field overlooking part of his 1,200-acre farm in Aurora, Mo., there is no question how much Steve enjoys being a cattle rancher.