WINDSOR, Mo. — Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you can find the Drenons answering phone calls, sorting cattle and taking care of customers at the Windsor Livestock Auction.

After working in partnership with his dad for a few years, Rodney Drenon bought out his share of the barn in 1992. He knew there was opportunity, and now his sons Jake and Blake share in the family tradition.

CROSS TIMBERS, Mo. — Greg Sundwall enjoyed working in the hayfield, but he doesn’t do it anymore. Back in 1995, he started experimenting with management-intensive grazing rotations, and now he grazes cattle year-round and doesn’t feed any hay.

One of the things Sundwall enjoys about his grazing system is that is has flexibility. He can adjust the size of grazing swaths and the timing of his rotations as conditions change. And Sundwall knows they can change in a hurry on his Hickory County farm, situated where the prairie soils of western Missouri give way to the more shallow and rocky soils of the Ozarks.

CLARINDA, Iowa — The role of the sale barn may have changed over the years, but Frank Hoepker says one thing remains the same.

“We work for our clientele,” he says. “They are very supportive of us, and we appreciate it.”

RANDOLPH, Iowa — Snow is just a distant memory as Will Longinaker plants corn on a gorgeous spring day.

“It’s good to finally get going,” he says.

FAIRVIEW, Ill. — Jake Fidler jokes that his diapers where changed at the sale barn he now co-owns.

He was set on his future career for as long as he can remember. Like farming, sale barn management is a passion that extends generations.

PINCKEYVILLE, Ill. — Brad Morgenstern has found a comfort level with his niche beef operation.

His small herd of Texas Longhorns stands out among others in the region. After all, it’s impossible not to notice the difference between his cattle and most others grazing pastures in Perry County in southern Illinois.