Neighbors

For some Ozarks farmers, staying on the land is a question that must be decided based on economics, family dynamics and other factors. For Matt Young, the seventh generation on his family’s land, it is not a question of staying, it is simply a question of how.  Matt, his wife, Winter and their children, Madison age 11, Hanleigh,  7 and Landon, 4, hold the original Homestead Act paperwork on their farm that was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant.

Denny and Mary Beth Pogue live on their family farm that is equidistant from Rolla, Salem, and St. James, Mo. Their home is Mary Beth’s grandparents’ house that was originally built in 1918. “I work in Rolla, Denny works in Salem and we have a St. James address and phone,” Mary Beth laughed when explaining their situation. Their son, Orin, a Drury University student, and daughter Adrian, a senior at Rolla, are the seventh generation to live on their land.

Travis Chism and his wife Christy are living the American dream. Well, that is if that dream carries with it the care and raising of Butterball turkeys and a herd of cattle.

"Girl, set me up on my horse, come on, and get the dogs,” Those are the words of Beth Ferguson's grandfather, even after he was diagnosed with cancer. “He rode up until just weeks before he passed away. I hope that I can enjoy things as much as he did. That was a good life.” Beth's life has revolved around horses since before she can remember. “My mom said when I was little she'd drive down the road and I'd just start screaming. She couldn't figure out what was wrong at first, but eventually she figured out it was horses. Every time I would see one, I'd just get excited and start screaming. I've always loved them, for as long as I can remember, and from what she says, even before I can remember.”

Hurricane Rita came blaring through in 2005 destroying the hospital in Orange, Texas where John Pickering was Maintenance Director. “I helped close it down. When the last helicopter took our last ICU patient, I left right behind them,” John said. “There were only three people that stayed to make sure all the patients got out. John was one of them. He saved a lot of lives. He is my hero,” Cheryl, John’s wife, said. Cheryl wanted to come home to Arkansas after the hurricane. John had to return to the hospital the following day to start rebuilding it. He stayed, working 12-hour days for the next six weeks, getting the hospital back up and running. After Rita, John and Cheryl officially moved to Arkansas for good. But they have been back several times since, most recently after Hurricane Ike, to help John's father.

For generations, cattlemen made decisions based solely on what they could see. They looked across their pastures and watched their herd graze and grow, bred the cattle they thought best, and then they watched the next generation. It was only after the animal was sold or butchered that they were truly able to know its worth.

A teasing comment from his son, Ryan, may very well have inspired Randy Kell of Raymondville, Mo., to invent his Double K Alleyway, a quick attach alleyway that transforms a common livestock trailer into a cattle working station in five minutes or less.

With a rifle scope mounted on a tripod, Gary Routh watches over his cattle from the comfort of his Dallas County home. Gary and his wife of 52 years, Barbara, have lived on their 160-acre farm near Buffalo, Mo., for 26 years.

In 1997, Holly and Matt Linck's daughters, Rachel and Shelby, were attending school at Southside, Bee Branch, Ark., and were involved in 4-H. They had pastureland that was mostly browse at their 40-acre farm on Harmony Mountain Road near Choctaw, Ark., and the girls wanted to get involved in showing livestock.

"In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, a bridge to our future," summarizes Alex Haley, the author of "Roots." Family farming roots in Arkansas run deep, but the future generation of farmers is more in flux. However, in the Whorton family of Lincoln, Ark., there is no doubt that the farming tradition started by family patriarch and matriarch, Basil and Wilma Whorton will be continued on through the third generation. Basil was the Vice President of Phillips Food Center/Food-4-Less in Bentonville prior to retiring, but always farmed on the side. Sadly, Basil passed away two years ago, but his legacy endures. His wife Wilma still lives on the farm, and his son Tim, daughter-in-law Stephanie, and grandson Tyler run Whorton Cattle Company. Bridging not just generations, but careers, Tim and son Tyler also own Country Feed and Farm Supply in Lincoln. In two weeks, the family will expand, as Tyler weds his fiancé Matea Stilley of Kansas, Okla., and starts a second operation in Leach, Okla.