WitnessTree Land and Livestock is located in central Missouri and is comprised of approximately 387 acres. Having close to 200 acres in woods, 30 acres in crop bottomland, and the balance in pasture and hayfields, the goal of WitnessTree is self-sufficiency using heritage breeds and old-style farming and homesteading skills. Strategically located between the state capital of Jefferson City and metropolitan St. Louis, the Missouri river lies just north, and Lake of the Ozarks is only 1 1/2 hours to the southwest.

WitnessTree is fortunate to have a prairie meadow that has never seen the plow. It has, at last count, over 350 species of native wildflowers and plants, and is listed as a prairie remnant site with the Shaw Nature Reserve, a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Acquired in 2001, the farm had been idle and untouched for 30 years. The original structure is a 2-story log cabin, circa mid-1800's, and the rest of the house was built around it sometime in the 1900's. In 1995, we began adding heritage breeds with poultry (standard Black Minorca and Dark Cornish chickens, Blue Slate turkeys, and Black Cayuga ducks), and Arapawa Island goats, Brabant Belgian draft horses, Jacob 4-Horned sheep, and Randall cattle.

Why the name, WitnessTree? The name was chosen for two reasons. A witness tree is the tree that was closest to the place where section corners met when U.S. land was first surveyed earlier in history. This marked "witness tree" was *never to be cut down*. Every piece of land that we own happens to have a witness tree marking a section corner.

And perhaps more importantly, trees are living witnesses to the passage of time and to the events that unfold beneath their branches, sometimes over the course of centuries.  They have endured, hence, the name of our farm. We, too, hope that what we share will endure.

Every year on the first weekend in October, we host the "Mid-Missouri Horse, Mule, & Ox Farming and Historical Crafts Days". 2009 will be the 13th year for the event, and the 9th year it has been held here at WitnessTree. It is a showcase for the demonstration of heritage crafts and animal-powered farming skills. We have had as many as 20-plus draft teams working in the field at once, and have some of our rare livestock on display then as well.

Read more about this event