Neighbors

Twenty-five LaMancha and Nigerian Dwarf doe goats, 22 bottle-fed kids, four adult bucks, three Great Pyrenees guardian dogs, an Australian Shepherd and a donkey named Nellie roam Simple Pleasures Farm on Nubbin Hill near Leslie, Ark., owned by Phil and Dawn Hurd. 

"Each species of livestock has its own little differences,” Scott Kaden explained recently, while standing inside a barnful of bleeting Hampshire and Dorset sheep in Phelps County, a short distance south of Rolla, Mo.

Some cattlemen select their breed of cattle after carefully considering all the characteristics of a particular breed, and then choosing the one that suits their tastes best. However, some producers are not satisfied with the characteristics any single breed can offer them. One alternative for those producers who want more is to select a breed like Beefmasters.

When New England poet Robert Frost penned, "Good fences make good neighbors," he wasn't thinking about trees.

"I just love my goats,” chuckled Patty Horner from Rockin’ Rock Ranch in Salem, Ark. “I could just spend hours out with them and the babies. They are all jumping and hopping around the field and me. They are just fun to be around,” she added.

When it comes to shooting trap, brother and sister duo, Cord and Brooke Riley are right on target. The siblings are members of the Huntsville FFA Chapter’s shooting sports team. Huntsville’s FFA team has won the state trap shooting tournament for two consecutive years, and they are hoping for their third win in April.

Focused on efficiency and profit, Coy and Charlotte England raise Brangus/Angus cross cattle on their 250-acre farm making up the England Cattle Company. They currently have 50 cow/calf pairs and three registered Angus bulls, and have 40 acres of their land for hay cutting. Their goal is to promote beef animals that will meet market demands. The Brangus was developed by crossing Brahman and Angus cattle.

Lightening Ridge Farm is a long way from the Scottish Highlands, but the terrain and weather conditions haven’t been much different here in the Missouri Ozarks. Near the southern line of Texas County, on the headwaters of Jack’s Fork River, the hills are steep and live water from springs is abundant. Dave and Ruth Embry raise Highland cattle on their 150-acre farm that is mostly wooded with about 20 acres open. You might think it would be impossible to raise livestock in these conditions, but their Highland cattle are thriving here.

Juanita “Janie” Martinez Perez is a woman whose hands are very full. She's the owner and operator of a 165-acre dairy farm with 39 Holstein cows, 14 heifers, 8 calves and 10 horses,  the mother of a 14-year-old son whom she home schools and she's newly widowed.

"We wanted to move towards being self-sustaining,” said Crystal Eutsler when asked about why she got started with production agriculture when neither she nor her husband, Chad, had grown up on a farm. Thirteen years ago when Crystal’s family moved to Bois D’Arc, Mo., she bought some chickens. Soon her son, Ethan, took an interest in his junior high FFA chapter, and wanted to start a project. A small goat herd was the result. Crystal had helped her son, Ethan, buy three Boer goats. At the end of the project, they had 16 goats. “We loved having goats, but that particular breed required a little more care and upkeep than we had the time for, so we sold those and were introduced into the French Alpine breed by a friend,” said Crystal.