About MATT MORELAND

Matt is a fourth generation farmer from western Missouri, just south of Kansas City, Missouri. Growing up on a dairy, beef, and row crop farm Matt learned how to work from a young age. He started out bottle feeding dairy calves in grade school, joined the milking crew by junior high, and finally rounded out high school in the planting, harvest, and hay crews on his family farm. After high school Matt attended the University of Missouri and earned a bachelors degree in Agricultural Systems Management with minors in Agricultural Economics and Animal Science. Degree in hand, Matt headed back to the farm to rejoin his father and uncle and pursue his passion of farming and becoming a valuable part of the family farm.

Shortly after returning home, the dairy economy began to struggle. With the writing on the wall of the not too optimistic future of milking cows, Matt decided to experiment with new ideas. In 2013 he started a small pumpkin patch at his home to try his hand at specialty crop production. It was here, with his first crop of pumpkins, that Matt realized how little the consumer knew about agriculture and their food source, and where Matt discovered his passion of connecting the consumer with agriculture. Little did he know, pumpkins would become the gateway crop that lead Matt into a business that would change the course of his life. This is where his agritourism business, Red Barn Ranch, was born.

While Red Barn Ranch stayed very small for the first few years, bigger things were coming. Unforeseen circumstances and a poor dairy economy forced the Moreland Family to hang up the milking towel and sell the dairy cattle in 2018. After 75 years in the milking business it was time for a change. Matt refocused the time previously spent with his family's dairy into growing the pumpkin patch business. The changes made paid off, and attendance began to soar! The business expanded in multiple directions and even found a place merging with the family business. Matt's family has always raised Angus cattle but after the dairy cattle were sold, they decided to turn the milk cow lot into a feed lot to finish cattle to butcher weight. Red Barn Ranch brought customers in from neighboring communities and urban areas that wanted to connect with a farmer to buy beef direct. This created a new market for nearly 100% of the beef they raised by selling directly to the consumer. Red Barn Ranch also began to offer more activities and services to its customers as well. They added sunflowers, more and more varieties of pumpkins, Christmas trees, farm tours, weddings, private events, and much more. They also host an on-farm preschool during the school year and summer day-camps in June & July where kids and their families can connect with agriculture. In addition to direct marketing beef cattle; the family farm continues to grow corn, soybeans, and hay as well as making all of the feed needed to raise their cattle on the farm. The family has also found success in growing non-GMO soybeans for the human consumption market world wide.

Outside of farming and running an agritourism business, Matt is a father of two active kids, and an active member of his community. He takes advantage of every opportunity available to share his passion for agriculture.