County leader sees room for growth in ag sector

Bois D’Arc-based pork startup NuVenture Farms LLC, with 140 head of pigs, appears to be bucking a trend.

Nationally, the number of farms is on the decline. The last federal agriculture census, conducted in 2022, showed a 6.9% decline in total farms in the five-year span between reports. That reduction is even higher in Greene County, which had 1,668 farms in the last census – a 10% decline from five years prior.

Another statistic of note: Farmers with a decade or less under their belt, like NuVenture owners Jesse and Jessica Thurman, made up just about 30% of the nation’s farmers.

The husband-and-wife team established their rural Greene County farm in 2021. Neither producer came from a farming background. Jesse was deployed in Poland with the Army Reserve when, he recalled, Jessica called him to say she wanted to do something with the land they had recently purchased.

“We came out here because we want to be where it’s peaceful, quiet – out in the country,” he said. “We want to have a mission of creating a family legacy and raising our boys in a farm setting where they can learn about work ethic – they can learn about life and death, how everything has a purpose.”

The rural lifestyle may have been the draw for the startup that began with 34 pigs, but business factors are NuVenture’s engine.

In 2024, the farm experienced 10% growth over the previous year, and it has experienced consistent double-digit growth, Jesse said. He declined to disclose the company’s annual revenue.

NuVenture was one stop on the Greene County Commission’s annual agriculture tour of the county on Sept. 5. Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon said NuVenture Farms is doing things the right way.

“They’re very conscious of water quality and environmental concerns,” he said.

Dixon said agriculture makes up about 10% of the county’s $1.5 billion annual economy, and that sector’s contribution has been on the wane. It’s a calculation that considers value-added and packaged products, in addition to meat, grain and produce, he noted.

The commission’s farm tour covered a wide range of agribusinesses, like The Backyard Pantry LLC in Republic, a family-run business that produces packaged food products from its own yard in a typical residential neighborhood, or like Missouri Berries, also in Republic. It produces strawberries, blackberries and blueberries with an eye on agritourism. The tour also featured Springfield’s Patchwork Flower Farm LLC, a five-acre you-pick operation offering zinnias, daffodils and sunflowers.

Dixon sees room for much more when it comes to the county’s farms and related agribusiness.

He referred to a past Springfield Business Journal article that highlighted the Queen City metropolitan area breaking into the top 25 food manufacturing hubs in the nation.

“That’s amazing to me, and I’m thrilled – but I really believe we can move up on that list if we do the right things,” Dixon said.

Learning by doing
The Thurmans are trying to do the right things at NuVenture, though Jesse acknowledged a fair number of errors as well.

“You have to try something and learn from it and try something again and learn from it,” he said. “That’s where the ultimate success comes from.”

It’s also important to support yourself with the right people, he added.

“Try to surround yourself with people that are going to be supportive and understand that failure is actually the first step of success,” he said.

For the Thurmans, success is mounting over time through the raising of Berkshire pigs – a breed comparable in quality among pork options to what wagyu is for beef.

“The market trends with sustainable nutrition and food options – that’s only going to grow,” Jesse said.

He said the prices are higher for the kind of pork the family produces when compared to conventional confinement production. Nevertheless, the products are finding buyers among customers who prioritize their health with growing consciousness of additives and preservatives.

He added that multiple local restaurants and grocery stores in the Springfield area carry NuVenture products. He named Gilardi’s Ristorante, Salvatore’s Fresh Ristorante Italiano LLC, Homemade. Delivered LLC, MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC and the restaurant at Highland Springs Country Club as a few.

Opportunity for growth
Dixon said there is a great deal of overlap and support in the agricultural sector.

“A lot of businesses in this area provide services to growers and producers – farm implements, packing materials, you name it,” he said.

In August, Dixon visited the Warrenton area west of St. Louis, where he and other county commissioners in the Missouri Association of Counties had a chance to tour America’s Heartland Packing LLC, a beef-packing facility operated by American Foods Group LLC that opened in April 2025 and was already at half capacity when the county officials toured.

The 1 million-square-foot plant represented an $800 million investment, according to the Warren County Record newspaper, which reported the plant is expected to generate $1 billion in annual economic impact for the state. It is designed to process 2,400 cattle per day.

Dixon said the plant offers well-paying jobs and good benefits, including at-cost meat for employees. It was also very clean and environmentally conscious, he said. Meanwhile, Wright City, where America’s Heartland Packing is located, got a new wastewater treatment plant from the company as part of the project.

Dixon said the company came to Missouri because of the state’s heavy concentration of cattle. It went to Warren County, he said, because they had the workforce.

“They have the people, and of course in order to have people, you have to have housing people can buy and locate to,” he said. “That’s the only reason we lost out on that.”

Dixon said he’s been in discussions with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce about housing.

“Our community’s going to have to figure out how we’re going to build homes,” he said. “We’ve got to come together on that. We’ve got to have workforce-ready housing.”

Jonas Arjes, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development, agreed that housing is a priority, and one that is talked about by the Springfield Regional Economic Partnership, which includes chamber, city, county and City Utilities of Springfield officials.

“We’re trying to connect those groups to help us put ourselves in the best position to compete for those types of projects,” he said.

Arjes said the area has a very good, skilled workforce, and housing availability and inventory are critical to building it even more.

“At the end of the day, job growth has outpaced population growth over most recent years,” he said.

The America’s Heartland Packing opportunity brought 2,000 jobs to Warren County, Arjes said, and that’s a big number. By comparison, Vital Farms Inc., an egg processing facility operating in Springfield since 2017, has just over 400 jobs.

“I would say that our sweet spot may not be that large,” he said of the packing plant.

Arjes is focused on business and industry attraction in general.

“I don’t know if I’m in the position to say we’re going to focus on one specific industry,” he said. “We’re definitely going to entertain all opportunities and put our best foot forward when we have chances to win projects.”

But Dixon is convinced – agribusiness is rife with opportunity, and he wants to position Greene County to go for that sector.

Dixon said he is working on attaining additional statewide agricultural designations for the county, and he is working with water quality groups and other nonprofits to try to bring his vision to reality.

“I believe we can do it and do it right,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be something that’s controversial. We can boost and support our agricultural community and also really guard and take good care of our water and tourism resources in this area.”

Sustainability
The Thurmans have an eye on sustainability while providing humane, pasture-raised conditions for their pigs.

“The recommended square footage for a confinement farm per pig is 8 square feet, which is 2 feet by 4 feet,” he said. “Multiply that by a thousand, and you see how they’re really on top of each other.”

In contrast, each pig at NuVenture has at least 400 square feet in just one paddock and can move through up to 10 paddocks during its time on the farm.

As a result, the NuVenture herds produce notably little odor, which is something Jesse said the farm’s neighbors appreciate.

They also want to make the venture more sustainable for their family.

Jesse said the family wants to expand the farm to grow in the food service market and find a distribution partner. He is also looking into producing meat sticks and supplying pork fat to the cosmetics industry.

It’s a lifestyle Jessica says she loves, and so do their sons, ages 8 and 10. She added that it takes all four of them to make the farm work.

“I would not trade it for the world,” she said.