Neighbors

For the Ceplina family, selling their dairy cattle last summer was one of the hardest things they had ever done. But Joe and Myra Ceplina needed to get a few irons out of the fire.  With their son, Wade, going off to college it would be impossible to milk their 150 head of Brown Swiss cattle, manage and market their dairy heifer replacements, and manage the feed store/tire shop/gas station they own in downtown Raymondville, Mo.  Retirement seemed like a good idea.

Life is good among the smell of fresh cedar chips, the warm glow of heat lamps and the sound of puppies playing coming from the spacious pens at Watson Ranch, home of Sagecreek Aussies. Jim and Pam Watson are living out a dream on an almost 100-year-old family farm just south of Bolivar, Mo., where they own and operate a purebred Australian Shepherd breeding operation. With six to seven mature females and rotating the breeding schedule so as to have puppies ready for sale is a constant challenge. Pam is constantly researching and staying abreast of the finest lineage to achieve the highest quality of Aussie prodigy and to maintain the level of desired characteristics.

Lanny Avey got into raising Boer goats after seeing the demand was strong; he has since perfected the practice

Coming together to make a family farm - despite breed preferences - was key to Frank (left) and Terrell Newberry's success

Experience and Education make a good team in Jeral Hampton (left) and grandson, Brent Woolley

With 160 Angus head and 12 Arabian horses, the Buhrs had to make sure they got the most out of their land

Jane Read and Ron Janus have turned their love of horses and the outdoors into a lifestyle for their entire family

Rural electrification: The farmer's "Best Hired Hand"

Grandpa Greenberry Henry on my mother’s side of the family owned this place,” Roger Ragland, Searcy County farmer recalled. “Then Grandpa Noah Henry, then Mom and Dad wound up with it, then me. I’ve farmed all my life, as far back as I can remember. There’s nine of us kids, and we worked together all our life and never had any problems getting along with each other."

Herbert Booher's cattle still prove 'Lean on Limousin'