Neighbors

Danny Fanning of Joplin, Mo., is a man with a busy mind and restless spirit. The one constant thing in his life has always been his love for livestock, more yet the love for purebred cattle. Danny said, “Showing my first heifer when I was 6 started my whole life’s career. I remember it just like it was yesterday, caring for my first heifer project and showing her for the first time. Our three children were all raised in the 4-H program and now 60 years later some of my grandkids are heading down that path. I love it and it’s what keeps me going.”

Years ago a popular TV commercial carried the tagline of “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” Todd Weyl, who lives in Fayetteville, Ark., on a small purchased acreage but runs his parents’ 228-acre farm in Lincoln, Ark., has learned through trial and error and  through extensive observation and reading that allowing Mother Nature to have dominance in farming leads to a paradigm shift.  Todd views agriculture as an interdependent system where superimposing solutions to problems may solve a particular problem but harms the system. Todd said, “This is not about going ‘natural’ for the environment’s sake but increasing profitability by decreasing costs naturally.”

Tony and Linda Nichols own and lease 2,000 acres just outside of Wainwright, Okla., in Council Hill where they raise a commercial herd with 400 mommas. The land where the Nichols’ house sits was purchased by Tony’s grandfather 100 years ago and added to as the years have gone by. Tony said, “I was born a rancher and really wanted to live with my grandparents because my folks lived in town.” Tony and Linda have been married for 53 years after meeting at church when 5 or 6 and becoming sweethearts in high school although they went to different high schools. When Tony asked Linda to go on their first date at his high school’s talent show, Linda wasn’t sure if he was asking her out or selling her a ticket. Linda said, “That date was it, and we’re still dating now.” The couple has three girls, seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter with another on the way. Colt Watson, the oldest grandson, is a fulltime employee.

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.