Neighbors

With an eye to a more informed consumer, organic egg producer Michael Cox wants to focus on pastured egg layers.

Mike and Judy Catlin believe that fresh fruits and vegetables should be on anyone's dinner table as much as possible. Since they bought the Mountain Home Berry Farm 7 years ago, they've been working hard to provide seasonal fruits and assorted veggies to homes in the Baxter County, Arkansas area.

Agricultural fads and fashions aren’t to be found on the Watkins Sheep Farm in the small hamlet of Little Flock, Ark., in eastern Benton County.

"It's all about Cody,” is the philosophy Brian and Melissa Jacobs use on their Hawk Shadow Farms, located on the Wright-Douglas county line. Cody is Brian and Melissa's 4-year-old son and they are evolving their goat and cattle operation to meet his interests and safety. For example, Cody attended his first goat shows this year at the Ozark Empire and Missouri State Fairs. Melissa said that since Cody showed an interest in showing goats, they plan to cut back on their commercial herd and purchase more full-bloods.

Bill and Reta Wehmeier, of rural Phelps County, have found ways to blend old-fashioned farm family traditions with modern marketing practices to produce a successful 21st Century operation. They are the proud owners of a historic Angus herd. “That's a herd that's been going for more than 50 years, according to the American Angus Association,” Bill explained recently on his farm outside St. James, Mo.

Groves-View Dairy welcomed more than 170 dairy producers for a field day in July, hosted by the Missouri Holstein Association. The dairy originated in 1913 and is being passed on to Todd and Brad Groves.

A few years ago Diana Cunningham retired from over 26 years in the education field. Her husband, Jerry, bought her a nice pair of golf clubs and set her up for golf lessons.

What do Limousin bulls, a school teacher and a recording artist have in common? The answer is Freddie Edwards of Rock Island, Okla.

Larry and his son, Eric Walker, of Willow Springs Ranch near Prairie Grove, Ark., like Maine-Anjou qualities when it comes to cross-breeding their Angus cattle.

Don and Artie Hughes started small in the cattle business in 1979, with four Angus cows. Thirty years later, they are going strong, in a seed stock operation, which now includes their son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Debbie Hughes. For the past 10 years, they have found reporting calving data to the Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR) through the American Angus Association to be an extraordinary performance advantage.