Ozarks Farm Neighbor - The Ozarks most read farm newspaper

A new generation of farmers is coming about these days. Whereas years ago most farms were family operated and knowledge was passed from father to son, many of today's livestock producers don't have the advantage of growing up on a farm. Shirley Williams is a case in point. She said, "I grew up in the city in a family that wouldn't even let me have a dog in the house." Luckily, her maternal grandfather had agrarian roots, and could see the makings of a good  stock woman in Shirley. She inherited his passion for stock while spending family vacations at his horse ranch...
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Stevie Haller is passionate and knowledgeable about livestock farming. The owner of 350 head of purebred Gelbvieh and another 100 crosses, 48 of them the promising Gelbvieh/Angus Balancer cross, Stevie, his wife Brenda, a registered nurse, and their two sons’ families operate Haller Farms. They also recently opened Haller Motorworx, a Branson Tractor farm equipment business.  Stevie modestly claims that the secret to his many successes is “to always try to listen to people who know more than I do.” At this point in his career, though, most people are keen on listening...
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When Jerry Hunton was nine years old his family got their first chicken barns. His mom, Jessie, and dad, Floyd, met during  World War II, and then married and  moved back to Arkansas to make a life farming in the Arkansas Ozarks. Jessie, who was an integral part of the farm up until the past few years, was simply grateful to not be in the cotton fields of her native Oklahoma anymore. A life tending chickens and cows seemed to suit her better. What started for the Huntons on 220 acres grew as the family was able to purchase neighboring land. With the addition of Jerry and his wife...
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Dr. McDonald Bonebrake has had a long relationship with Hereford cattle. His early days were spent at the family farm in Salem, Mo., working with the Herefords his dad traded for sheep in the 30s. Even after “Mac” left home for medical school he still had a desire to settle at a place in the country, with a few cows of his own. Mac began practicing medicine as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Springfield, Mo., in 1952. He bought a farm east of town, and his dad got him started with a few Hereford cows. That was in 1953.
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What does a retired mail carrier and a busy teenager have in common? Other than being a grandfather and granddaughter and wanting to stay busy, Polled Herefords seem to be the perfect answer. Over the years Lendell Voris and his kin have developed a high quality Hereford herd through dedication and hard work.
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It was the landscape that captured Jerry Peck as he drove through southern Missouri in 1996.  Originally from Michigan, Jerry was living in Georgia and was delivering a load of calves to the West Plains, Mo., area.  “I went home and told Judy, ‘I’m movin’.  Pack up if you’re comin’ with me!’”  Soon the couple was back in Howell County looking for the perfect property to buy.
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