Farming Communities? (St. Louis, Springfield, Joplin: homes, employment, school)

[Mrsgeraci]

My husband and I will be moving from Washington State soon. We were looking to live in a farming community in South Central Kentucky but are looking more at Missouri because the home schooling laws and the price of homes are looking much better there too. We would want to continue practicing our only 4 years of small farming but would love to live in an area where other families have small farms as well so we can continue trading our eggs and chickens for beef as we do here. Any region in Missouri we are open to. Thank you for your time...

[Arrby]

Although small farms are to be found all across the state, small farm life is more common in the southern half, and particularly the southwestern half of the state. If your aspirations are to market the produce you may want to look into the currently active farmer's markets around the state to see if there is a "fit" for you somewhere.

[stlouisan]

The Ozarks sound like the perfect for you. If you are raising animals, the Ozarks love that. if you want to grow crops, however, good luck. You're better off north of the Missouri River in that instance, although Southeast and Southwest Missouri are okay for crops. Correction, Southeast Missouri is EXCELLENT for crops...south of Cape Girardeau is some of the most fertile soil on the planet. Also, the Osage Plains in southwest Missouri are fairly fertile for crops.

[Arrby]

While the above is largely true, there are many hundreds of farms in the Ozarks with productive crop land. Small acreages are available in the Ozarks that can support agriculture of one kind or another on a small scale. Nearly 100 years ago S.W. Mo. was the leading tomato growing area in the country with dozens of canneries employing thousands of workers, although that piece of history is now as little remembered as the Missouri Mule.

Also, as you go west from mile marker 35 on I-44 or so the Ozarks pretty much end. North of I-44 up through Lamar, Golden City, Nevada and on up toward K.C. row crop farming is quite good.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by Arrby

While the above is largely true, there are many hundreds of farms in the Ozarks with productive crop land. Small acreages are available in the Ozarks that can support agriculture of one kind or another on a small scale. Nearly 100 years ago S.W. Mo. was the leading tomato growing area in the country with dozens of canneries employing thousands of workers, although that piece of history is now as little remembered as the Missouri Mule.

Also, as you go west from mile marker 35 on I-44 or so the Ozarks pretty much end. North of I-44 up through Lamar, Golden City, Nevada and on up toward K.C. row crop farming is quite good.

The crops I was thinking of were the Midwest staple crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. However, along Highway 50 you can grow a lot of crops. The St. Louis area outside of the Ozark foothills has soil that is quite fertile...problem is that it's urbanized. The only part of the St. Louis area that you can still grow crops that isn't urbanized is in the flood plains of the Missouri, Mississippi, or Meramec. However, I have seen corn grown on the Ozarks on multiple occasions, as well as soybeans. It's possible to do it, but it generally involves digging out all the rocks and enriching it. You can grow crops in the Ozarks also near the rivers and streams, which have rich enough soil there. Southwest Missouri does have fertile farmland around Monnett, Springfield, and Joplin from what I remembered. I saw a lot of corn and soybeans there. The tomato part is very true though. I'm just saying that the Ozarks will generally not support the large-scale farming that you can do in the parts of Missouri not in the Ozarks.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

The crops I was thinking of were the Midwest staple crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. However, along Highway 50 you can grow a lot of crops. The St. Louis area outside of the Ozark foothills has soil that is quite fertile...problem is that it's urbanized. The only part of the St. Louis area that you can still grow crops that isn't urbanized is in the flood plains of the Missouri, Mississippi, or Meramec. However, I have seen corn grown on the Ozarks on multiple occasions, as well as soybeans. It's possible to do it, but it generally involves digging out all the rocks and enriching it. You can grow crops in the Ozarks also near the rivers and streams, which have rich enough soil there. Southwest Missouri does have fertile farmland around Monnett, Springfield, and Joplin from what I remembered. I saw a lot of corn and soybeans there. The tomato part is very true though. I'm just saying that the Ozarks will generally not support the large-scale farming that you can do in the parts of Missouri not in the Ozarks.

Gasconade Co. has some lovely little farming communities with people off the dirt roads on less than 20 acres. Lots of little stream and creeks coming off the Gasconade River around there. The OP should look to the area around Linn and Mount Sterling. That is still commutable to St. Louis and/or Jefferson City.

[GunnerTHB]

The bootheel doesn't have much going on except for row crops. SE Missouri when your still in the hills may be work looking into. Cape Girardeau County isn't bad but housing values are somewhat higher than surrounding counties (although pretty low still). Also you could look into Butler County west of Poplar Bluff. Are you just farming or are you looking for employment as well?

[Mrsgeraci]

Thank you all for your responses and the time you took to share with me. We have actually decided to turn towards Kansas. I hope that some others can benefit from this thread though. Thank you again.