Neighbors

Farming isn’t new to either John or Misty Schmitz, having both grown up on farms in the Ozarks.

Bonnie and Van Vanderpool are two individuals from divergent backgrounds – hers as a lifelong resident of the Ozarks and the Dallas County farm where she still lives and his as a happy transplant from Chicago – have come together to establish their own micro-dairy farm, with sons, Trenton, age 12, and Will, age 5, in a unique and greatly self-sufficient lifestyle.

Woodhaven Farm in Ozark, Mo., truly is a haven for horses. The long, uphill drive is bordered by pastures full of peaceful grazing broodmares and their foals. At the end of the drive, you’ll find David and Marti Wood and their two children, Kyah and Trey Schumaker, owners and operators of Woodhaven Farm, an equine business venture that has been a work in progress since March of 2011.  

The Wilson Ranch is located near Heber Springs, Ark., in Cleburne County, on 317 beautiful acres.

Carol Smith of Claremore, Okla., is not your average Angus seedstock producer. Her husband, Ed, owns a construction business they started in 1988. He currently operates his business in Tulsa, Okla. They both grew up on the farms in Nebraska and Kansas. They have been associated with agriculture their entire lives. They have two children; son, Chad Smith, associated with Ed in his construction business and daughter, Brandi Smith Hezinger, who has her own design business. They also have five grandchildren that they are very proud of; Kate, Ella, Treyson, Sophie and Yazzie.

Among the farmsteads in the rolling terrain of the Cane Hill, Ark., area known as the Vineyard Community sits the 365-acre homestead of Ed and Judy Winsted. Now semi-retired, the couple has downsized their agricultural life to a primarily Angus herd of 75 momma cows and four bulls.

Splitlimb Ranch is in the eastern half of Texas County near Raymondville, Mo. This sprawling ranch has an “end of the road” location that makes it perfect for this diversified farm operation. Andy and Kelly Dietsch bought the ranch and moved here from New Jersey in 2009. They were looking for a turn-key operation with two houses. Andy said, “We could not continue to make a living farming in New Jersery, because the property taxes were high and there were continuous over-regulations incurred on farmers by the state.” He further stated they liked the property values in Missouri along with the beauty. The farm they selected was just what they were looking for with a house and a hunting cabin. They loved the wildness and isolation for themselves and the animals they wanted to raise.

"I actually lucked into my flock of Katahdin sheep,” explained Rhubein Belcher on his farm in Howell County, near Moody, Mo. “My wife, Carla, and I moved back to the area and wanted to raise livestock, but at my age I knew cattle farming was going to be too much. She did some searching on the Internet, and found a gentleman near Gainesville, Mo., who was looking to sell his entire flock.

Good fences make good neighbors, according to the old saying, but good neighbors willing to extend a helping hand to one another are a staple of life in the Ozarks. Jarrod Campbell and Roger Martens of rural Camden County, outside Macks Creek, Mo., are living proof of that.

Rick and Terri Fields live in Fort Gibson, Okla., with their two daughters, Cierra, age 12 and Cheyenne, age 18, currently a junior in college. This family is one of those that go back to the beginning of Oklahoma. Both were part of the Cherokee removal, with Terri's family settling in the 1830s and Rick's in the 1840s. As a result, they have over 80 relatives living in the area.