Neighbors

Straddling the Arkansas/Missouri stateline grows a wealth of tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, turnips, potatoes and much more carefully planted in row after row. Each plant is meticulously groomed by Patrice Gros.

If you were a bird and landed somewhere on Archbury Farms you might think you had landed in heaven. Archbury Farms is just that for Ed and Wanda Currier, a little piece of heaven on earth. The more than 1,600-acre farm is located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains in Van Buren County, with Alread, Ark., being the closest small community.

Operating a laying house has many challenges. Tom Leverich of Pioneer near Wheaton, Mo., who owns and manages his laying house said, “The big thing is that you have to be consistent.” In his house (which is 400' x 40') he keeps and maintains approximately 13,000 hens, that lay, at their peak, as many as 12,600 eggs per day. What are the most important things? Tom, who has owned his laying house since 2004, said, “There are four things you have to be consistent with: Quality of the air in the chicken house, temperature, water and feed. If you manage those four things the birds are going to do well.”

In 33 years as an agriculture education instructor, Sam Lower of Lebanon Technology and Career Center, a part of Lebanon High School, has seen an incredible number of changes and also has great hope for the future.

Feta, Brie and Marscapone; yes, these are the names of some tasty goat cheeses, but they are also the names for three of the Saanen milk does owned by Christie Moore of Rocky Horse Acres in Rocky Comfort, Mo. Tall and gentle, these all white goats are considered the Holstein of the dairy goat breed.

Sometimes living in the country is more about pursuing something you love and having a country-centered environment for your child than trying to earn a living off of the land. Such is the case for Doug Grant and his 9-year-old daughter, Hannah. Doug has 10 acres in Akins, Okla., that he uses to maintain three horses. He and Hannah use the horses for trail riding and for her participation in the Sallisaw Showdeo every other Saturday for much of the year. The acreage is made up of natural grasses that Doug brush hogs and sprays as needed. Because of the type of grasses and the small acreage, he feeds his horses hay during the winter.

Chris and Jodee Thompson live on 140-acres near Warner, Okla., with their two children, Adam, 7, and Colt, 2. They have a newly constructed home Chris built and a herd of 40 Angus momma cows on that acreage.

Ricky and Andrea Longshore have been farming since they were children, and now the couple of 36 years have shared their farming experiences with one another to successfully manage their farm in Stilwell, Okla., located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.

The Van Tassel family moved to Missouri from Pennsylvania in 2004 with nine Jersey heifers that were their children’s 4-H projects. Today, they have over 50 registered Jerseys with a few registered Ayrshires mixed in the herd. Located two miles south of Cabool, Mo., the Van Tassel’s are relatively new to the Ozarks, but they are experienced Jersey dairymen. They started milking Jerseys in 1983 and have been known as Maranatha Farms since then.

The enthusiasm that Danny and Lisa Cantrell share as they talk about their Missouri Fox Trotters, outside Conway, Mo., is positively contagious. The couple, along with daughters, Anna, age 19, and Meg, age 16, maintain approximately 20 horses on 87 acres. When not on a horse or working with them, Lisa works as a counselor at Buffalo High School and Danny works in concrete and construction.