Neighbors

Land and cattle have tied together the threads of Scott Price’s family for more than 100 years. Scott’s grandfather Claude Wofford bought the original 200-acre ranch in Crawford County, Ark., from Scott’s great-uncle in the 1890s. “My grandfather had three girls, my mother being one of them,” explained Scott. “He was a railroader, and me being the grandkid, I tried to spend every moment I could here.”

"If it weren’t for him,” were the words mustered by both Chad Foster and his father-in-law, Ben Coleman simultaneously. The two men stated those words about one another, as they discussed their cattle operation in Hickory County.

Carol Pool is your typical American cowgirl. She is hard-working, fun-loving and knows her way around a horse. She’s been a cowgirl her whole life, all 70 years of it. Growing up around fox trotters, near the town of Eldridge, Mo., she’d always been fond of horses. Her interest in the sport of barrel racing didn’t begin until she saw a picture of a barrel racer turning a barrel on a beautiful, strong horse. Carol said with her contagious laugh and smile, “I wanted a picture like that to hang on my wall.” 

Daphne Sartin described the farmer as 'the eternal optimist.' "Very few people get up every morning and go to a job they can’t control,” she said. She explained that they have no control over the weather or prices.

Five years ago Evelyn and Al Terhune researched sheep breeds with an interest in raising meat sheep on 35 acres of pasture on their 70 acres of land near Gilbert, Ark. Mowing grass and weeds, they felt, was a waste of time and money, where grazing sheep would be a positive contribution to pasture management, without having to spray weed killers.

Joe Powell has a rich agricultural heritage, ranching in the river bottoms in Franklin County. “I have ranched all my life really,” said Joe. “As a kid, I loved cattle. My grandfather Willis Powell started here with a parcel of land that was given to them by the U.S. Government to homestead." The deed to that land is framed in Joe’s home today. “My dad, Grant Powell, farmed, and he had a few cattle and land down in the bottoms near the river,” explained Joe. “When they put the locke and dam in, they had to sell their land to the Corp. of Engineers. Of course that was back in the horse and buggy days,” joked Joe.

Monte Shockley Jr. of Poteau, Okla., is one of the new generation of ranchers. At age 29, Monte already oversees a successful herd sire operation specializing in horned Herefords.

After 34 years of teaching, Bill Roberts hung up his hat and retired at the end of the 2010 school year. He spent the last 25 years teaching Agriculture Education at Marshfield High School.

Rocky Rush is an expert at growing things. He knows how to grow crops – farming more than 1,000 acres of row crops, and even raises soybean seed for Andrews Farm and Seed. He knows how to grow pigs – he and his father operate for Murphy Family Ventures and over 50,000 pigs pass through their doors every year. He knows how to grow a good family – he and his wife, Karen, have been married 27 years and have two children, Tyler and Shelby, and a business called Karen’s Kutting Korner. He also knows how to grow good cattle.

Jerry and Michelle Sanner’s Hidden Farm, as they call it, in rural Polk County is well-named, tucked in amongst the rolling hills outside Humansville, Mo. “I started with commercial cows,” Jerry explained, “but we’re converting over to registered Angus at this point.  We’re working with Jeff and Shoni Wilson out of Clearwater, Mont. There’s 50 years of research behind the genetics in the herd we have established with top producers here in Missouri. It’s all about raising great-tasting beef. You cook chicken and you have to put  spices on it to make it taste good,” he laughed. “We want to raise beef that when you cook it or put it on the grill, that’s all you need. We want people to eat beef.”