during planting and harvest season
often keep him out late at night.
It’s a lifestyle she understands and
obliges by serving dinner in the
field, girls in tow.
Farming just down the road
from his father, the two share
equipment and labor. “I have a
really good working relationship
with my dad,” Rush says. “We
get along great, and we farm
together. It’s just a good business
partnership between father and
son.”
A small pastured poultry operation helps generate additional revenue on the Rush farm.
Young Ella Rush is eager to help her mom, Rachelle, with gathering eggs, which are
sold mostly to a restaurant in nearby Joplin.
FCS Financial, which helped him
purchase 10 head of cattle. He
combined those with some cattle
he already had and rented some
land from a great uncle.
After high school, Rush
headed to Fort Scott Community
College to judge livestock and
study agriculture education.
Continuing to grow his farming
operation by renting neighboring
land and helping his father, Rush
transferred to Missouri State
University in Springfield and
eventually landed at Crowder
College in Neosho finishing with
an associate’s degree in agriculture.
“I was able to drive back and
forth between here and Neosho,
and I had more opportunities
coming up here (on the farm),”
Rush explains.
Today, Rush grows corn,
wheat and soybeans on both
6 HEARTBEAT | FALL 2018
owned and rented land in Jasper
and Barton Counties. He also
manages about 50 head of
Red Angus-Simmental cross
commercial cows and a small hay
operation. And although they sit
empty now, Rush maintains four
hog barns that once housed a
nursery operation for Smithfield
Foods.
Still, diversification doesn’t
stop there. Rush’s wife, Rachelle,
operates a small pastured poultry
operation and markets between 60
and 70 dozen eggs each week to
a restaurant in nearby Joplin. It’s
a nice sideline income that allows
her to stay home with the couple’s
two daughters, Ella, 2, and Emrie,
born in August.
Originally from Columbus,
Kan., Rachelle is no stranger
to farm life, which Rush says is
especially helpful. Long hours
fueling the fields
With about 90 percent of his crop
ground no-tilled, Rush is confident
making the switch was the right
thing to do for the land.
“We’ve got some fields that
have been continuously no-till
for 10 years,” Rush explains.
“We’ve seen a big increase in our
soil health and our overall crop
health.”
Forging ahead, Rush used a
2x2x2 system this crop season.
He explains, “My planter is set
up for no till. It has hydraulic
down pressure on it that keeps
the seed depth perfect no matter
what conditions and speed I
am running. This helps even in
emergence.”
The 2x2x2 applies fertilizer
2 inches over on both sides of the
seed furrow as well as 2 inches
below the seed furrow. “The
fertilizer is there when the seedling
develops roots,” Rush says. “I pull
a 1,600 gallon tank behind the
planter for this fertilizer. We also