Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper – written for, by & about farmers

In today’s America, more and more children of farmers are taking jobs in the city and less and less are returning to the farm. Matt and Amanda Crutcher both grew up on family farms. Matt’s dad was an AI tech with a commercial herd of cattle and Matt grew up showing cattle at the fairs. Amanda was raised by her parents alongside cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. Matt went to college at Fort Scott where he judged livestock and claimed the National Championship title. Amanda went to college at Fort Scott where she claimed the heart of her soon to be husband, Matt.

Robin Childs may not have the most experience, or the most cattle, but he knows a few things that many people miss. “I am a firm believer in listening,” Robin said. When he started his cow/calf operation about six years ago, he listened to friends and older producers in the area, but he also did his own research. What he learned led him to purchase his first registered Gelbvieh cows at a seed stock sale. Robin wanted Gelbviehs because “they are good producers and good milkers.”

Throughout most of our adult lives we have been told to drink eight glasses of water to maintain good health and well-being. But what water rules apply to our livestock as scorching late summer temperatures rise throughout the Ozarks?

Where do you stand on the NAIS issue?

Legislation to address global climate change squeezed through the U.S. House in June, but action in the Senate has been postponed, and farm interests remain divided on the issue.

With a wet summer coming to a close, pink eye is as much of a threat as ever. Pink eye, or Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), is a bacterial disease of the eye in cattle (though another form can be found in goat herds as well). The disease is usually not fatal, though the economic damages from decreased weight gain, decreased milk production and treatment were estimated to be at least $150 million per year in the United States alone.