Neighbors

Twenty-five cows, 205 acres of land and a vegetable garden – That’s how the King family got by in the old days. Gerald King, patriarch of the King family of Green Forest, Ark., said, “I don’t know how they (his dad and mom) raised five kids here, but they did.” They just managed to get by with less back then. Gerald said he milked 25 dairy cows a day with “milking machines” – then looked down at his hands.

Troy and Beverly Stout live south of West Fork, Ark., on 60 acres where they raise both Beefmaster and commercial cattle. Beverly said, “I bought 1 acre years before I married Troy because I love living in the country, but when we married we purchased additional land for grazing cattle.”

Former ranchers, originally from Arizona, Margo Chilcott and her husband, Brian, came to the Ozarks seven years ago and fell in love with a place, a 100-acre valley outside West Plains, Mo., in rural Howell County. Both currently work in real estate in southern Missouri.

Bob Dotson was born into farming. He still owns the 190 acres and the home he grew up in, as well as two other land parcels of 80 and 20 acres, where he keeps approximately 50 cows. He has a mixed breed herd of mostly black Angus. He also puts up 400 bales of hay each year.