Joseph Edward Ewing

Chapter 1

Joe was born August 21, 1927 on a 625 acre livestock farm near Morrisville, Missouri in Polk County. He attended a K-12 school at Morrisville, Mo. He played softball and basketball through school. He was awarded the Star Farmer Degree his sophomore year. He was also on the school's livestock judging team.

Joe registered for the military draft on 21 August 1945 and was classified 1A on 10 September 1945. He took his physical in October and was drafted in November of 1945. He did basic training and heavy equipment training at Fort Leonard Wood. At the conclusion of training, he was sent to New York to join the 1008th Engineer Battalion and went overseas on the Queen Mary, landing at Le Havre, France. His battalion arrived at Marseille on the Mediterranean Sea, attached to the pattens 35th Division. Their main job was to haul fuel and supplies near the front for the 35th Division. They had a large motor pool to keep all the equipment in working order. After the war was over, they did clean up and land repair. Joe had traveled to France, Germany, Holland, and the edge of Italy while in the Army.

The Mediterranean was a beautiful blue ocean. Joe particularly enjoyed the French Riviera Cannes and Nie. Joe always regretted not making it to Switzerland.

Chapter 2

After the service, Joe enrolled in college at Southwest Missouri State. After a year, he transferred to the University of Missouri to study soils and animal husbandry. At the university, he started officiating high school basketball, which he did for many years. After graduating from the university in if/ he took a job at Doane Agricultural Services in St. Louis, Missouri. There he met and married the love of his life, Nora Ruth Adams. She lived at the Masonic Home in St. Louis from the age of five. While with Doane Agricultural Services, he managed farms for non-resident owners and did appraisals. Joe and Ruth moved to Blytheville, Arkansas (where he worked, with his old friend Andy Anderson) for the Frisco Railroad in the agricultural department. With the downturn of the economy, his position was cut. During this time Ruth and Joe had a baby boy, Larry. Needing employment, Joe headed for miles to job search. He met with the Director of Extension Services and they had an opening in Salem, Missouri. A few

years prior to that, the extension had started a Co-op Feeder Cattle & Feeder Pig Sales. At the co-op, farmers sorted pigs or catties by their sex, size, and quality in large groups. These sales were very effective for many years. A lot of time was spent sorting feeder cattle all over the state. During one of the sales at Salem, Joe was contacted by one of the buyers for cattle from Joplin, Missouri. This call was about a ranch management job for a 2,500 acre ranch in Joplin, Missouri on the Missouri-Kansas line.

Joe toured the ranch after the fall sales and was impressed with the possibilities for the ranch. While at Salem, his family grew to four with the birth of his second son, David. Joe was elected as President of the Old Missouri Livestock Association, later to become Missouri Cattlemen's Organization. He helped to create the Missouri Cattlemen's Organization and was the first President.

Chapter 3

Wildwood Ranch was 2,500 acres with a lot of native bluestems pasture and hay. They normally put up about 250-300 acres in square bales for winter feeding. There were four upright silos, which were used for silage.

The program was to buy 500 lb calves which were fed silage, hay, and protein. The calves were turned out in the spring and sold in late summer or fall in the Kansas City stockyards. The owner was interested in fattening the calves, so they started to build a finishing facility. A corn and protein storage was built along with a roller mill and seales. They worked closely with Extension Engineers to lay out and plan the facility. Concrete troughs were built with fence lines. Feeding with a 12 foot concrete slab for the cattle to eat on and hold down the mud.

Most of the fat cattle were sold to packing company buyers. Several trailer loads were sold to a company in Memphis, Tennessee. This worked really well and we had repeat buyers for the cattle. Our ranch was one of the first to have silo unloaders. We purchased corn from local growers in the area.

The ranch was a wonderful place to raise two young boys to learn a work ethic and responsibility. During Joe's time at Wildwood, he hosted several tours and made presentations at several statewide meetings.

While at Wildwood Ranch, his family grew to five with the birth of his daughter, Barbara.

Chapter 4

While at Wildwood Ranch, Joe and some of his friends built and organized the Big Sky Western Store in Joplin, Missouri. His friends wanted him to manage the store and after much thought, he agreed.

After a few years, Joe began to die tired of the long hours and being inside. He longed to be outdoors. He took over the Management Operations of Cattle in northeast Oklahoma. Some time later, a position opened up in Central Texas on a large cow-calf operation. One of the interesting things was 300 cows were leased to A.B.S. During the introduction of breeds from other countries, (and as well as breeds in the U.S.) Joe enjoyed his stay in Texas, but Missouri kept calling him back home.

A friend of his (who he officiated basketball games with while in college, along with his son) was taking over a market in Marshall Junction, Missouri at the 1-70-MO 65 Junction. Joe's friend wanted him to head up their graded calf and yearling cattle sales. He and his family moved to Windsor, Missouri. This program proved to be very popular in Central Missouri.

After a few years, his father passed away. He came back to southwest Missouri to care for his mother and looked after the family's cattle operations.

After coming back home to Polk County, Joe took a job with Cattlemen's Auction Co. at Humansville, Missouri. They started a graded calf and yearling sale. He ran a cow and calf operation on his two farms in Polk County. He became interested in rotational-grazing for cattle. That means, breaking up large pastures into small paddocks. This concept was developed in Australia and New Zealand. It is where you put a lot of cattle in a small paddock, they eat quickly and evenly, and then you move them to the next paddock. Cattle get used to this process quickly. Joe worked closely with the Soil Conservation and held several field days. This concept has really grown.

After returning to Morrisville, Joe's mother passed away. He and Ruth sold the two farms and moved to Stockton, Missouri. He bought a farm and put in a rotation grazing set-up. He was able to increase gain per acre by 50%.

While at Stockton, the Nations Beef Farmers & Ranchers voted to have a check-off fund to support education and boost demand for beef.

The state was divided into four districts. Joe was elected to represent the Southwest Missouri District and Ex-officio members were added. At the first meeting, Joe was elected President. His main focus was how the check-off funds were spent.

While at Stockton, Ruth and Joe were very active in the Farm Bureau. He served as county President and Ruth was elected to the State Farm Bureau Board.

Ruth passed away on March 1, 2010. Before her death, Joe sold the farm to devote more time to taking care of her and to take care of the household duties. After a few years, Joe sold the house and moved to Warrensburg to be closer to Dave and Barbara.

In Lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Saint Labre Indian School, Ashland, MT.