Matt & Jennifer Cantrell

Hidden Springs Farm is a small operation nestled in gently rolling hills in Marion County Kansas.  The farm is run by my husband, Matt, and me, Jennifer Cantrell. We have lived here since September of 2000, the land, however, has been in my family since the late 1920’s.  My paternal grandparents, Gene & Jean Ratzloff, inherited land from Gene’s father, Jacob Ratzloff around 1960. (They didn’t actually live on the farm until 1982.) Throughout the years, Gene & Jean experimented with various crops and animals. Some of their most successful ventures were commercial rabbits and homegrown popcorn.

Both Matt & I grew up in McPherson, KS. We were both “town kids” but ironically, we had similar summer experiences on a “farm”. Many of my summers were spent at the farm with my grandparents and my cousins often joined us for a few weeks as well. I spent days with my grandmother, learning about cooking, canning, and pickling virtually anything that grew (from pickled peaches and spiced apples to watermelon rind ‘stickles’!) I went with her to various jobs, cleaning houses, and shopping. I also got to spend hours with the boys outside collecting box turtles and fishing for sunfish perch. We certainly had our share of adventures!

Matt’s experience with close family friends, Herb and Margie Neumeyer near White City, KS, meant lots of work to keep a young man busy and fit. He helped to cut and bale hay, worked on tractors and moved cattle. He often speaks of what a wonderful cook Margie was and the good times they had going to “town” to play pool.

As our children grew, we had little time to tend to much around the farm. We both worked full time jobs and had to commute to town jobs. Neither of us had any interest in farming wheat or other crops. It was all we could do to keep up with mowing the grass! As such, the fields were soon “infested” with trees, weeds, and heavy shrubs.

By 2015, our children were grown and living on their own, and we decided to dive headfirst into the business of raising goats.  After strategizing about our goals and researching breeds, we came to the conclusion that the Kiko breed was for us… and we have never regretted that decision.  Each year we have been able to expand and utilize a little more of our property, and our Kikos have helped us regain control over fallow farm and pasture ground that had become overgrown with trees and brush.

Along the way, we decided that we want to improve not only our goat herd, but the soil health as well. We have divided our pasture and grazing areas into several paddock areas to be able to rotate the goats to better manage their grazing and parasite control and replenish key nutrients to the soil.

As the trend for grass fed, organic meat and produce grew, we decided to expand our livestock operation to include red angus cattle, heritage breed pigs. The initial primary goal was to provide our family and friends with quality meat and fill our own freezer! And of course, no farm would be complete without chickens.