Paul and Theresa Heidlage work
side by side on their Newton
County farm. In addition to a
cattle operation, they combine
fescue seed, harvest hay, and
grow soybeans and wheat.
Theresa takes charge of much
of the cattle side of the business,
while Paul is more content to
manage the other farm’s other
entities.
Side by Side
Paul says his father, the late Tony Heidlage, was forced
into early retirement after a farm accident when Paul
was in the eighth grade.
After high school, Paul attended Crowder College
in Neosho for a couple of years before a stint with what
is now the Farm Service Agency — all the while, living
at home and working on the family farm.
8
HEARTBEAT | SUMMER 2016
The couple purchased the cowherd from Paul’s dad
in 1988 and harvested fescue seed for him, eventually
taking over the operation.
“Back then, we were basically fescue seed,” Paul
says. “It was big here. We had cattle and row crops also.”
Paul says they grew very little corn at that time,
turning instead to wheat, soybeans and milo.
“It didn’t require as much capital and equipment,”
Paul says of the fescue seed business. “You can get by
with some pretty shaky equipment when you’re doing
fescue seed.”
According to Paul, fescue works well with a cattle
operation although fewer farmers today cut it for
harvest. Still in demand, most fescue seed is harvested
for the lawn care industry.
Married since 1982, Paul and Theresa share a love
for the land they work together. Both attended high
school in Pierce City, although Theresa says she’s much
younger than Paul.
“She’s the son her dad never had,” Paul says of
Theresa. He’s quick to credit his bride as more than
capable of picking up equipment parts and of ensuring
he gets the right test weight on his fescue seed at harvest.
In the day-to-day activities of the operation,
Theresa manages much of the cattle-related tasks. In
fact, Paul stresses the cows are Theresa’s; his comfort
zone is better suited to tractor work in the row crop,
fescue seed and hay entities of the farm.