Neighbors

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.

Karla Johnson greets most visitors with a smile, a wave and an invitation to meet her in her horse barn.

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.

Justin and Chana Usrey and their two sons, Kenny, 11, and Darrin, 8, live outside of Huntsville, Ark., where they raise turkeys and a commercial cattle herd. The couple married in 2000 and purchased 78 acres and another 30 later. They also rent an additional 320 acres and are considering expanding that acreage.

Jay Wilkins is one of those whose town life and country life are so entwined that figuring out where one ends and the other starts is hopeless. Jay is both the Agricultural Division Chair at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., and their farm manager. His wife, Tresa, also works at the college.