Jefferson Countian Kyle Flinn, 44, operates a pumpkin patch and a Christmas tree farm on the same land his great-grandparents used as a cattle farm more than a century ago.
Kyle’s parents, Don and Connie Flinn, still own 111 acres of the original farm in the Jefferson County portion of Pacific.
It was one of three county farms to be recognized as a Missouri Century Farm this year. In all 164 farms across the state received the recent recognition, joining the list of about 80 Century Farms in Jefferson County and 8,000 in Missouri.
The Century Farm program is provided by the University of Missouri Extension, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and Missouri Farm Bureau.
“Every time I drive around and I see a sign for a Century Farm, I just can’t help but think that’s pretty neat and unique,” Kyle said.
The Flinn Farm, known as Catawissa Hollow Farms, is at 1996 Wade Road and now proudly displays one of those Century Farm signs.
The two other Jefferson County farms honored this year were the Almany Farm just outside the Festus and Crystal City area and the Harness Farm in Dittmer.
To be recognized as a Century Farm, the same family must have owned the farm for at least 100 consecutive years, and the present farm should consist of at least 40 acres of original land and still produce farm income. The line of ownership from the original settler or buyer can be through children, grandchildren, siblings or nephews and nieces, or through marriage or adoption.
Flinn Farm
Kyle said his great-grandparents, Ernest and Helen Flinn, started the farm in 1919 with cattle and hay.
“It wasn’t their primary source of income. My great-grandfather ended up working for the IRS in St. Louis. He would actually stay (in St. Louis) during the week and then come out here on weekends just because travel back and forth every day would have been so difficult for him.”
Kyle said he believes that source of income from the IRS job during the Great Depression is what allowed his great-grandparents to keep the farm.
Ernest died in 1960, and the farm then went to Kyle’s grandparents, Betty and Don Curtis Flinn. He said his grandparents moved to the farm in the mid-1960s and had cattle, hay, goats and chickens.
In the early 1980s, Don planted trees and began a successful Christmas tree operation.
“In the `90s, we were moving probably 600 or so Christmas trees a year as a choose and cut – where people choose a tree and we cut it for them,” Kyle said. “Things wound down for a little bit in the early 2000s just because of Granddad getting old and us not being available to help.”
Betty died in 2014 and Don died in 2018. Half of the property went to Kyle’s parents, and the other half went to his aunt and uncle.
He said his father, who lives near Eureka, tried to keep the tree farm operation going, but it was difficult.
In 2019, Kyle and his wife, Julie, purchased 10 acres of the original farmland and built a house.
“I didn’t grow up living here at the farm, but where my parents live is only like 10 minutes away, so I spent most of my extra time as a kid out here,” said Kyle, who works for the U.S. Forest Service. “Now I get to live here.”
He said he started working to revive the tree farm business in 2019.
“With us moving out here, we are able to really give it a lot more attention,” Kyle said.
He said he hopes to see the farm return to its prime like when his grandfather ran it.
Kyle said the farm will sell pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks beginning the first weekend of October and then Christmas trees beginning the first weekend after Thanksgiving. On those weekends, hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
Last year, Kyle and Julie grew 420 pumpkins on the quarter-acre patch. He said large carving pumpkins cost 50 cents a pound, while the smaller orange pumpkins are 80 cents a pound. They keep customers updated on Facebook.
As far as Christmas trees, they grow Canaan, fir, Norway, spruce and white pine trees.
“We’ve got a pretty good customer base,” said Kyle, a Eureka High School graduate. “Right now, we’re probably selling between 100 and 120 choose-and-cut Christmas trees every season. We’ve got the capacity to probably go up to 500-600 again just with the available space. It’s just a matter of time.”
Kyle and Julie have two children, Christian, 9, and Addie, 6, and Kyle said he hopes the youngsters become more interested in the farm as they get older.
Almany Farm
The Almany Farm is off Hwy. 61 about 1 mile south of Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City and was started in 1925 by Jim Almany’s great-aunt and great-uncle, Annie and Joe Murphy.
“My father (Don) was raised by my Aunt Annie,” Jim said. “He would always tell me a story of how when he was a boy, Aunt Annie would have social events on the farm and invite friends and family.
“Some of them were from outside town. One particular friend from Kansas City brought Harry S. Truman. He was a senator at the time. My dad (who was about 10 years old at the time) remembered asking his Aunt Annie if he could stay up for a while when (Truman) was here. He was allowed to stay up and meet Harry S. Truman.”
Jim Almany’s great-uncle Joe Murphy with a crew and team of mules on a construction site.
Jim said his dad reported that Truman was a nice guy.
“The farm began as a large piece of property, and through the years, it has been divided by roadways,” he said. “When I-55 came through, they moved Plattin Creek through our property and divided our fields. They used the dirt to build the interstate and divided the farm again.”
Jim said the farm started as a place to raise cattle and keep mules for Murphy’s construction company.
Jim’s parents, Don and Stella, and Don’s siblings, Robert and Olive, took over the farm when the Murphys died. Now, Jim and his wife, Tammie, own it and their children, Bria and Zach, help out.
Jim said he always wanted to farm.
“We lived on the farm,” he said. “I have fond memories of working on the farm with my family.”
He said the family raised livestock and gardened over the years.
“(Now) it’s used for cattle and hay fields,” said Jim, a retired Jefferson R-7 School District employee. “We have our own garden, fruit trees, walnut trees and berries for personal use. We use the resources on the farm to feed and raise our animals. The farm presently possesses all necessary resources for self-sufficiency.”
Kyle hopes to keep the remainder of the 120-acre farm in the family for many generations.
Harness Farm
Patrick Gibbons, 56, a full-time assembly worker, is the fourth generation of his family to own the Harness Farm on Hwy. Y in Dittmer. It was established in 1913 by his great-grandfather, Thomas Harness, who had beef and dairy cattle.
“It went from my great-grandpa to my grandpa (Roy) to my uncle (Jim) and then to me (25 years ago),” Patrick said.
He said the farmland, which currently has about 40 cattle and some fruit trees, has been leased out since about 1944. However, he plans to start his own farm soon.
The sun sets over the original Harness Farms house in 2021.
About two years ago, Patrick moved back to Dittmer from Highlandville, where he ran a cattle farm.
“Now, I’m starting over here. Right now, (the Harness Farm is) still being leased, and I’m going to start buying cattle,” he said. “I’m building a house here now, so I’m kind of focusing on that right now and then I’ll get into (farming) probably next year.”
Patrick said he is excited about working on the farm where he played as a child visiting his grandma and uncle. He plans to plant a bunch of blueberries to see if those will grow.