Neighbors

Agriculture education takes a different approach at Lake Career and Technical Center, a part of the Camdenton School system, located in the midst of the tourism community of Lake of the Ozarks in Camden County. Jeff Kitchen has been the Camdenton agriculture instructor and FFA advisor for the past 20 years.

Donald and Dale Meek’s grandparents were the Lassiters and the Meek’s. They were ranchers and farmers in 1840. The grandfather on the Lassiter side was in the Civil War, when it was over he ran a cotton gin. Then in 1867 he became sheriff. However, they always had horses and cattle to make a living.

Rob Bramlett has a heart for farming and his life encompasses his family, his buddies and the wisdom of long time farmers.

On a beautiful fall day, a long row of antique tractors gleamed in the sun. They belonged to Wally Geilfuss in Prairie Grove, Ark., who moved from Wisconsin to Arkansas in 1996. Wally said, "I've been around tractors my whole life, and on a farm you're always working on the tractors." Wally's story is how rural land acquisition for modernization eventually landed him in Arkansas.

Cedar Springs Beefmasters Farm encompasses around 1,000 acres in Webster County near Marshfield, Mo. The farm is owned by Dr. Roger Holden. Dr. Holden lives in Springfield, Mo.

In 1995, Nick and Pam Console gave up city life for farm living in the Missouri Ozarks. These days, spending quality time with their 13-year-old son Casey is priority one, and tending to their herd of Dexter Cattle; It’s clear, the family has found their little slice of heaven, their own piece of the American Dream.  Pam, a self-confessed “California Girl” who’s first love was spending summers with her grandparents on the family farm in Lake Ontario, N.Y., just couldn’t get country living out of her blood. Pam earned a bachelors degree in art; then fate stepped in and she met a tall, dark and handsome Cajun gentleman, with a syrupy-sweet southern drawl from Lake Charles, La. Soon, Casey made three, and the rest is history. The Consoles’ knew country life was for them, so they packed up and moved lock, stock and barrel to the Heartland of America-Ash Grove, Mo.

Collecting is a hobby for Neil Breshears. Initially it didn’t seem to matter what he collected guns, knives or pocket watches. He can tell you with lots of pride when and where he acquired each piece. Neil is very sentimental and almost everything is symbolic of a piece of his past. Walking on his farm he will tell you that this came from his dairy farm, or that his dad had a tractor just like that one. The memories they give him are important to Neil.

Farming is often a matter of generations as it is for Kenneth and Dorothy Rose who are 83 and 75. The couple has three children, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. The Roses currently have two homesteads, one in Muse, Okla., and one in Talihina, Okla. They run a commercial herd of 75 momma cows and five bulls on just under 300 acres.

The Collins Farms, located in Van Buren County, just outside Scotland, Ark., is home to Richard Collins and his 19-year-old son Shane. His dad Richard Sr. still lives in the house Richard grew up in, just about a mile from Scotland in the opposite direction. Richard’s family is most important to him. Every Sunday after church is family time where they meet at the Collins' home and have a meal together. Richard said, “You can find me sitting right here (meaning on the sofa) holding my first grandbaby, who is nine weeks old.” The mother is his 27-year-old daughter, Shannon Baker, who is a teacher.

Recreational accidents can have tragic results. If the injured person is a farmer, the results can be especially devastating. However, advances in programming and technology have become available to help wheelchair bound farmers remain productive.