Our Story by Macy Johnson
Growing up in rural Missouri, I enjoyed country living throughout my childhood. Raised just down the road from my grandparent's farm, along with my two sisters, I grew up around many animals. My grandparents raised cattle, pigs, and chickens, and for a short time, my dad raised several breeds of exotic game birds including pheasants and quail.
On the family farm where my dad was raised, he tended livestock, pasture, and row crops on over 700 acres with my grandpa. My mom helped on the farm when she could and began working a full-time job off the farm when my youngest sister started school. We eventually moved up to the farm to live with my grandma in 1988 after my grandpa passed away. My mom and dad continued to take care of the farm until 1995 when my grandma passed away and the farm was subsequently sold.
During our years on the farm, my sisters and I did our share of work, whether it was helping sort cattle, driving tractors to help get fields ready for planting, or putting up wagons full of hay bales in the summer heat. I saw firsthand the hard work, long days, and sacrifices that come from everyone working on a farm. Yet for me, the peacefulness and beauty of living on a farm remains unmatched by any suburban street.
Mark was born in Matoon, Illinois. After his parents moved when he was 6 years old, he spent the rest of his childhood around the small town of Holliday, Missouri. The son of a railroad car man and a nursing home cook who worked opposite shifts to avoid needing childcare, he learned the value of hard work from an early age. He worked many summers mowing yards around town to earn money and although he didn't live on a farm, his love for animals was apparent. He and his sister cared for many pets over the years, including a dairy goat named Tracy, who lived to be 14 years old. My own love for goats wouldn't be discovered until many years later.
Mark and I met in high school and in 1995, less than a year after graduating, we were married. We spent the next three and a half years living in Alaska as Mark served in the United States Air Force.
After Mark's first enlistment was up in 1998, he was honorably discharged from active duty. We then returned home to Missouri where he continued to serve his country by joining the Air Force Reserve and eventually transitioning to the Missouri Air National Guard.
Shortly after moving home we started a small hobby farm just north of Madison, Missouri. The idea of Johnson Family Farm was seeded and my love for goats began with the purchase of the first ones to join our farm, pygmy goats, Willy Billy and Momma Goat! We also had many other goats along with sheep, rabbits, geese, ducks, guineas, pot-bellied pigs, and miniature donkeys. However, our time on a farm was short-lived. In 2004 we decided that Mark should once again return to active duty service with the Air Force and our animals were sold.
Over the next 15 years we were stationed in Idaho, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, and one unaccompanied tour for Mark to South Korea, for a combined total of just over 25 years of military service. We had many adventures at each base throughout his military career including the births of each of our three daughters, Kaylee, Kelsey, and Kenzie. We always made the best of each state that we lived in but I always longed for the day that I could return to country living.
In July 2018, 15 months before Mark's retirement from the military, we purchased 25 acres just north of my hometown in northeast Missouri. We moved back permanently in May 2019, and what started as a dream over 15 years ago, has become a reality as we once again began a small hobby farm!
I am blessed to have been able to be a stay-at-home mom ever since our oldest daughter was born in 2007. Here on the farm I take on many roles, ranging from being the photographer, scheduler, and record keeper, to helping out with routine animal care such as feedings and vaccinations when needed. Aside from the numerous daily chores and duties of animal care, and building my requests for additional animal enclosures and houses so that I can bring a new critter home, Mark also works full-time off the farm. Our girls also help out when they can and some days it takes everyone pitching in to get a job done!
When not busy on our farm or enjoying the outdoors, we also run a non-profit that is dedicated to welcoming babies born with Down syndrome.
We're so excited to return to a rural community, we're excited to see what the future holds for our family here on the farm, and we're happy to have you follow along with us and enjoy the journey as we grow!
