Peter Huskey could not have known in 1804, when he loaded up a bunch of oxcarts and moved from Tennessee to the Hillsboro area, that his farm would still be operating more than 200 years later.
He also could not have known that when Missouri celebrated its bicentennial in 2021, two farms that were part of his property would be among several across the state to be recognized as Founding Farms.
The University of Missouri Extension regularly recognizes farms that have continued operating in the same family for more than 100 years as Century Farms.
This year, to coincide with Missouri’s 1821 admission into the Union, the organization designated 30 farms throughout the state as Founding Farms – those that were established before that date.
Three of the farms on the list are in Jefferson County, including two in the Hillsboro area and one in Cedar Hill.
Mike Huskey has one of the three Jefferson County Founding Farms – 160 acres in the 9300 block of Hwy. BB north of Hillsboro, which was once part of his ancestor’s much larger farm.
“Peter and his sons, John and Jack, came here in 1804 because there was ground,” Mike Huskey said. “This was before the Louisiana Purchase, so they were squatters for quite a few years, until the U.S. came in and they got land grants.”
Mike Huskey’s cousin, David Huskey, also owns one of the Founding Farms. It’s a 59-acre piece of property in the 6000 block of Klondike Road north of Hillsboro that also was part of Peter Huskey’s original farm.
The third farm on the list, a 138.25-acre tract in the 9000 block of Silver Lane in Cedar Hill called the Linhorst Farm, no longer qualifies.
The Linhorst Farm has been in operation since 1819 but its recent owner, Lloyd Linhorst, said he sold his property earlier this year to someone outside the family.
Linhorst said he raised corn and soybeans, with soybeans the major cash crop, as well as hay and cattle, but as an only child, there were few candidates to continue the tradition. “I had to sell it because there’s no one else to continue it,” he said.
Huskey farms
Mike Huskey, 72, said his farm was once part of a sprawling operation.
“I think it went almost all the way into Hillsboro,” he said. “Over the years, some of it was sold off. My sons and I have tried to repurchase the parts we can.”
David Huskey said his father, Oliver, and Mike Huskey’s father, George W., agreed before Oliver died in 2010 that his 225 acres of the larger farm would be split between his three children.
David Huskey said when his mother died in 2015, that’s exactly what happened. He ended up with 59 acres, while his sister, Pat Cavanaugh, and his older brother, Richard Huskey, got the rest.
Both Mike and David Huskey said the land split was amicable.
“We’re all family,” Mike Huskey said.
David Huskey, 69, said while he and his wife, Terry, 68, still live on their property, they haven’t farmed it for several years.
Instead, he and his wife rent their bean fields to the Bonacker family, who pay them a quarter of the profits from the fields.
“You can’t make a living farming 59 acres these days, with the price of equipment and machinery,” David Huskey said.
“It works out well,” Terry Huskey said. “The Bonackers have been farming for years, and they have the equipment.”
While David Huskey may be retired, that doesn’t mean he is idle. “There’s still a lot to do around here to maintain the fields and keep the brush lines clear,” he said.
David Huskey said he kept cattle until about six years ago.
“But I found that as I was getting older, they’re a lot of work,” he said.
Mike Huskey still farms
Mike Huskey still tends to his 160 acres.
“I was just born into farming. It’s in my blood,” he said. “I like to say it’s like being an alcoholic. It’s tough to try to kick.”
Huskey said farming takes a lot of work.
“There have been a lot of days without sleeping. Let me put it that way,” he said.
Huskey raises beef cattle, mostly Angus, soybeans, wheat, barley and hay and alfalfa.
“I’d say my cash crops are soybeans and hay, although some of it I keep for the cattle,” he said.
Huskey, who is retired after a 29-year career with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, also is the longest-tenured member of the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
“Before I got the job with the Sheriff’s Department, I used to have dairy cows,” he said. “I asked (former Sheriff) Buck Buerger for the midnight shift so I could work all day on the farm. Dairy cows require a lot of work. They have to be milked twice a day. That lasted two years. Then I sold the cows off.”
He said he started as a road deputy, but then transferred to bailiff duty at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro.
“I always told people I enjoyed going to work for the Sheriff because I needed a rest from the farm. Not that working in law enforcement wasn’t physical, but it wasn’t farming. I got up to having five weeks of vacation a year, and that meant with weekends. I would have nine straight days of farming. Those were the times when I’d put up the hay. After that, it was nice to go back to work in the air conditioning.”
Both Huskeys said they believe their family farming tradition will live on.
“I think my kids will keep it together,” Mike Huskey said. “Between them and my grandkids, I think they’ll figure something out to keep it going.
“My son (Jarrod) helps out a lot, and my other son (Jason) helps out a little. My eight grandchildren are still little, but they like to lend a hand as well.”
He said Jarrod lives on 22 acres and Jason on 30-plus acres in the area.
Mike Huskey said he particularly sees farming potential in two of his grandsons – Jacob Oliver, 12, and Lucas George, 10.
“Just the other day, they were digging around the foundation of an old cabin in the woods. They dug up an old Fountain City Water Co. bottle from
De Soto, parts of an old stove and dishes. They learned there is a lot of history to this place.”
David Huskey said in 2004 his family donated the original log cabin on the property to the Fletcher House Foundation, and it was moved to the Fletcher House property in Hillsboro.
He said his 59 acres will likely remain in the family. “My son, Kyle, went to college and now teaches at Jefferson College. He lives on the property, and his kids (Haley, 16, and Cole, 11) make the eighth generation to live there,” David Huskey said.
He said his extended family, which includes people with the last names Williams, Ogle and Ramsey, still have their hearts in the Hillsboro area.
“In 2004, we had a family reunion, and over 300 people came from all over the U.S.,” he said. “This farm means a lot to our relatives.”
Mike Huskey said the Founding Farm recognition is significant.
“It means a lot to me, just the fact that we’ve been able to keep it going. That says a lot,” he said.
David Huskey agreed.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I have a great deal of respect for my parents and how hard they worked to get what we have. I’ve been very fortunate that I have always lived on a farm. My son lived in a subdivision for a while and I don’t think I could do that. I love being able to get up in the morning, walk onto my porch and see deer, turkeys and a bean field. I appreciate what I’ve got and I want to pass that along.”