Neighbors

“It’s a little over 100 miles just to check all of the cattle today.” To say Beechfork Ranch is spread out, is an understatement. Shawn Burgess, Manager, gave Ozarks Farm & Neighbor the lay of the land for their operations, “We have headquarters here in Prim, Ark. We also have land and leases in eastern and southern Cleburne County and several hundred acres in White County. We grow out some replacement heifers down in White County, too. That trip doesn’t count the horse and cattle operations down in Weatherford, Texas, and then we have the herd out in Magdalina, N.M. With only five full time employees here, we stay pretty busy.”

You can get just about anything you want at Millsap Farms, including an education about market farming.

When Rick and Rita Cameron got tired of paying premium prices for local, grass-fed and antibiotic-free meats, they decided to take on the task themselves. Now, they work to offer high-quality, natural and antibiotic-free, beef, pork, eggs and produce on their farm in Shell Knob, Mo.

Timbers Edge Farm is a beautiful place – it is peaceful, secluded, and overlooks the western side of Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Refuge. It is also where JR Combs and his granddaughter, Sophia, raise and train their champion Missouri Foxtrotters in Spokane, Mo.

On the to-do list of Gary and Melissa Holland of Gentry, Ark., is checking records to determine if their farm is already a century farm. Gary’s grandfather bought the house and 20 acres around 100 years ago. The house has been home to five generations of Hollands and is currently the residence of Gary’s son and family with Gary living in his own home on the original plot.

Planning for retirement entails a financial or lifestyle plan; or it contains both. The desired choice is one that does not involve more years of hard work. The hopeful aspect of retirement is that there will be enough funds to continue the current lifestyle or to make a better one. Retirement takes preparation whether it is through an employment plan or years of saving, reaped of hard work. Most farmers and ranchers know the hard labor and countless hours involved in maintaining a successful operation. Choosing farming or ranching as a retirement choice can be lucrative or ultimately just hard work, or again – it can be both.

When Bart and Pam Petray met 15 years ago at a two-stepping class, neither had any farming background. Bart was a full-time surveyor and Pam a speech therapist. The couple has two grown children, Megan who lives in Texas with the couple’s two grandchildren and Blake who is joining the Air Force and beginning basic training this summer.

The small settlement of Ben Davis, Mo., in the western part of, Texas County, is home to a very diversified farming operation, Spring Hill Farms. Duncan and Tara Smith now own this farm that has been in the Smith family since 1970. It does, indeed, have many springs and a live creek flowing through the property. They have two Grade A dairy barns, a cheese plant, a beef cattle herd and a commercial Pumpkin Patch. Even though they’ve had the dairy for several years, they were recently licensed as a cheese plant in 2012.

“If my cows get out, they’re in the next county before I know it,” joked David Hirschler.