Farmland near Ft Leonard Wood (Ozark, Aurora: for sale, lease, home)

[Lookingforafarm]

Hello, we are considering a move to the Ft Leonard Wood area as the base offers civilian employment for my wife in her field. I would want to continue to farm, (we produce organic dairy, veggies, and crops) I have seen on line a lot of farm land for sale, but not a lot of info on productivity, markets, etc. Does anyone out there have any direct info on farming in say 30 minutes of the base? Thank you

[OA 5599]

It depends on what kind of farmland you are looking for. Outside of some bottomland areas near streams, the soil in the Ozarks is very poor and rocky, and not very well suited for growing crops. This is especially true around FLW where it is very hilly and steep. You can have a decent sized vegetable garden, and a pasture for dairy cows without a problem, but growing crops will be considerably more difficult than say in central Illinois or Iowa. A cornfield is a very, very rare sight in the Ozarks. I can only think of one in my entire home county.

As I said, if you are just growing veggies for your family and maybe some extras to sell at a farmer's market you should be able to get by....but the soil is very unsuitable for anything more. A lot of land in the area is in pasture for cattle, and grass grows very well, so having cattle will not be an issue. If you want more information you should probably contact the University of Missouri extension office, I think most counties have them and they may be able to provide some better information on agriculture.

[HDM]

A cornfield is a rare sight in the Ozarks? I guess our definition of cornfields must be different. There are LOTS of cornfields in the Ozarks. They don't compare to the cornfields where I lived in Indiana but few farms devote the acreage to single crops in the Ozarks like they do elsewhere.

[OA 5599]

In the Ozarks in south-central Missouri, you see very, very few cornfields. I've traveled the region extensively...including Howell, Texas, Shannon, and Oregon counties...and many neighboring counties to a lesser degree, and can only think of one cornfield in any of those counties, which was about 40 acres.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

It depends on what kind of farmland you are looking for. Outside of some bottomland areas near streams, the soil in the Ozarks is very poor and rocky, and not very well suited for growing crops. This is especially true around FLW where it is very hilly and steep. You can have a decent sized vegetable garden, and a pasture for dairy cows without a problem, but growing crops will be considerably more difficult than say in central Illinois or Iowa. A cornfield is a very, very rare sight in the Ozarks. I can only think of one in my entire home county.

As I said, if you are just growing veggies for your family and maybe some extras to sell at a farmer's market you should be able to get by....but the soil is very unsuitable for anything more. A lot of land in the area is in pasture for cattle, and grass grows very well, so having cattle will not be an issue. If you want more information you should probably contact the University of Missouri extension office, I think most counties have them and they may be able to provide some better information on agriculture.

Well, I will agree that overall, Missouri is not the greatest when it comes to farmland. This could be why we are the second largest cattle state in the country.

Anyway. You can always use alternative means such as bio-intensive raised bed gardening. Also, there is a fellow just north of me around Aurora who has about 15 acres in strawberries that he has used a lasagna method of growing them. There are lots of Amish folks around Seymour who grow just about everything (of course) and they don't seem to have any problems with the soil. I've eaten some of their corn and it was a little wormy (gotta love organic), but tasty as heck and I can't wait until next summer to buy some more.

20yrsinBranson

[ozarksboy]

OA is right. If you want to be an Ozarks farmer, you're really going to have to be an Ozarks RANCHER and raise cattle. This isn't crop country. I don't think much corn is raised in Pulaski County. There's an ag department meeting coming up soon in Crocker, though; topic of the meeting will be corn and ethanol production. Apparently the ag department is trying to encourage more people to raise corn.

Now's a good time to get into cattle. With the price of corn high, due to ethanol production, lots of ranchers couldn't afford to feed, so they downsized their herds. Beef prices went down because of that influx of meat on the market, but prices are rebounding now that herd numbers are low.

Moreover, if you can buy enough land so you move the herd around from paddock to paddock like some of these old boys do around here, then you can make some money on grass-fed cattle--a lot more money than you would make raising strawberries.

[Ridgewalker]

my two cents...you want to farm in MO, live North of the Missouri river. South of the river you will have to look harder for tillable soil. Like the other poster said, the river bottoms, etc.

Now if you want to grow rocks or trees Ft. Lost in the Woods is your spot. Most of the Ozarks are hardwood forests, there are 20,000 acres of public land plus the Ft. in Phelps and Pulaski counties. You may be able to find something along the Big Piney river. Look near Duke...

[Lookingforafarm]

Thanks for the info - is is possible to lease decent pasture land down there - assuming I can't buy enough at first? We want to develop a grass fed dairy/beef operation with a sideline of hogs and goats for cheese, custom meats, etc - we are country folks in Maine now, but the season is just too short to make it all work, thus the desire to move to Missouri. Again thanks

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

OA is right. If you want to be an Ozarks farmer, you're really going to have to be an Ozarks RANCHER and raise cattle. This isn't crop country. I don't think much corn is raised in Pulaski County. There's an ag department meeting coming up soon in Crocker, though; topic of the meeting will be corn and ethanol production. Apparently the ag department is trying to encourage more people to raise corn.

Now's a good time to get into cattle. With the price of corn high, due to ethanol production, lots of ranchers couldn't afford to feed, so they downsized their herds. Beef prices went down because of that influx of meat on the market, but prices are rebounding now that herd numbers are low.

Moreover, if you can buy enough land so you move the herd around from paddock to paddock like some of these old boys do around here, then you can make some money on grass-fed cattle--a lot more money than you would make raising strawberries.

[Hillman]

Ok 40 years ago we raised all types of Corn and Small Grains in the Ozarks.But we spent all Winter picking Rocks off the fields.

About the same time Dozers were brought in Dozing all the Timber they could,Fescue was planted.Alot of people got away from Dairy to Beef.

About that time too Weaned Pig Market was good.We had around 40 Sows at that time.

So all this was done at one time.

Now the Big thing is Meat Goats and Organic Vegatables.I was thinking of getting back into Goats but with my health I decided not to.

hillman

[Lookingforafarm]

Hillman,

Where is the market for the goats? Any idea how big it is? What about sheep - lamb, milk, etc?

Thanks