Still On The Land: The Birkenholz Farm
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Uliana Storoshchuk
Team Cliff & Vi
Louis, 67, and Cheryl Birkenholz, 65, have spent 50 years side-by-side on their family farms near Hopkins, Missouri. They met as teenagers — Cheryl was 15, Louis was 17 — and built a life around family, farm work and animals.
Louis’s family has worked this land for more than a century. His father moved here with his family in 1919. Today, the couple cares for nearly 300 animals, including cattle, horses, mules and donkeys, spread across several properties.
Mornings start with checking in on the animals and feeding them. The hours are filled with whatever needs doing. By evening, it's time to feed again. "Every single day, [it’s] something different," Louis said.
He has little desire for a different kind of life. "I'm just satisfied at home,” he said.
For Louis and Cheryl, a life together has accumulated through repetition: tending the land, sharing meals, teasing one another and beginning again the next morning. Louis recalls a saying from his father: "It's easy to smile when life goes on like a song. But the one worthwhile is the one who can smile when everything goes dead wrong."
After generations on the same land, home isn't simply where Louis and Cheryl live. It's what they continue to care for every day.
Louis Birkenholz, 67, and his wife Cheryl Birkenholz, 65, take care of their horses at their family’s 4th-generation farm on Sept. 23, 2026 near Hopkins, Mo. Louis gave Cheryl a horse for her 18th birthday, a gift she remembers decades later.
Cheryl places a flower in Louis’s shirt pocket.
Louis sets up a milk machine to milk the cow.
Louis feeds milk collected from a milk machine to a calf.
Louis knows all of his animals by name. “I like all of them,” he said, when asked about his favorite animal.
Cheryl opens a gate while Louis delivers hay on their tractor for the animals The couple share many of the daily chores required to care for their animals and land.
After one of their cows gets out onto a road, Louis and Cheryl repair a damaged section of fencing. Keeping the animals safely contained adds another task to the couple’s daily work.
For Louis and Cheryl, life on their family farm remains closely tied to the rhythms of the land and the animals they care for. “We are listening to the music of the birds and earth,” Cheryl said.
Louis checks on his horses, ponies and cattle at one of the four small farms he owns. He makes daily rounds across the properties, caring for nearly 300 animal. “Every single day, [it’s] something different,” he said.
Louis’ grandfather rebuilt the Birkenholz family house in 1944, decades after Louis’ father moved to the farm with his family in 1919.
A sticky fly strip hangs in front of the kitchen window inside of the Birkenholz home. Everyday life inside the house unfolds alongside the demands of farm work. “I’m just satisfied at home,” Louis said.
Cheryl walks outside of their home while Louis enjoys a quiet moment with the dogs.
After a day spent caring for animals and working across their farm properties, Louis and Cheryl stop for dinner on Sept. 23, 2026 at KFC in Maryville, Mo. “I was born hungry,” Louis said.
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