NEW MADRID COUNTY, MO (KFVS) -
Rick and Cindy Faulkner met at the age of 14 and since then they've been inseparable. This year they celebrated 35 years of marriage, and they're mutual love of farming and outdoors help keep their bond strong.
"You got to love it or you couldn't stand it," said Cindy.
The Faulkner's say farming is the hardest, but most rewarding thing they've ever done.
"We risk everything that we have every year," said Rick.
Rick says the good always comes with some bad and on R and C Farms change happens as often as the wind blows.
"No two years are ever the same," said Rick. "Everyday is different. We grow cotton and soybeans and corn, little bit of wheat."
Half of the Faulkner's 2,500 acre farm is cotton and Rick says that's his favorite.
"I like to watch when it comes up from little plant and watch it grow," said Rick.
You could say to the Faulkners, this crop, is the cat's meow. And on this farm there's quite a few those.
"They get taken care of probably better than some people's children do," said Cindy.
And peanut, the indoor cat, even gets to tag along.
"She rides the cotton picker with me and she can go in the truck," said Cindy. "She's been raised riding so it's not out of the norm to see her out there looking at the window if I'm going up and down the roads."
"Between 25 and 30 miles from the north to the south, we have a lot of running up and down the road to do," said Rick.
That's what it takes to keep this land flourishing.
"We want to be good stewards to have it on for the next generation," said Cindy.
Congratulations to the Faulkner's you are some of the Heartland's Best Farmers.
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