The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Brian Ojanpa

July 31, 2009

Missouri grass woos St. James cow herder

St. James dairy farmer Steve Cross is moo-ving to Missouri.

That pun is brutal, but no less so than how Cross is making the trek.

Not only is he and wife Kris moving themselves and four children, they’re also taking their entire herd with them.

That’s 85 cows, 80 head of young stock, and three semis, if you’re keeping score.

“It’ll take about an hour to load them — if they’re cooperative,” Cross said prior to Friday’s scheduled move to northeast Missouri near Hannibal.

He said they’ve purchased 115 acres of pasture because of Missouri’s abundance of grazing land and Minnesota’s lack of it.

“Now, the cows are in a confined system, on concrete all the time, and that’s hard on feet and legs.”

Cross said pasture grazing will make the animals healthier and perhaps longer-lived, which would extend their profitability.

This wasn’t a rash decision. The couple has been looking at places the past three years, first in Wisconsin, later in New York.

“But we weren’t really finding what we wanted, and my wife wasn’t too sure about moving to Missouri. She was wondering if it might be too hot in summer.”

But the trade-off of milder winters to go along with an extended grazing season was the dealmaker, and the decision was made to leave the place they’ve farmed for 18 years and head to the Show Me state.

Cross said the trip will take about eight hours, which will be within the window of the cows’ twice-daily milking regimen.

So on Friday morning the plan was to have his wife and kids milk the cows while Cross whisked the young stock onto trucks, then pack up the cows and go.

That included their bovine celebrity Fritzi, deemed by the American Jersey Cattle Association as the top Jersey cow in Minnesota, a distinction based on genetics and production value.

But Cross said Fritzi isn’t a diva and won’t be riding up front with him.

She’ll be in back with the rest, logging a hard eight hours for the payout on the other end: all the grass she can eat.



Brian Ojanpa is a Free Press staff writer. Call him at 344-6316 or e-mail bojanpa@mankatofreepress.com .

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