Melvin Eugene Barnes, Licking
Melvin Barnes, a Vocational Agriculture Teacher at Licking, MO for 40 years, has a career studded with noteworthy accomplishments. His is a story of a local boy returning to his home community after graduating from College and contributing much to the quality of life for many people.
Melvin, the son of Winfred Herman Barnes and Mabel Buck Barnes, was born March 22, 1926 on a dairy farm at Licking. He was quite active as a high school student and started his own dairy herd. He owned 11 head of Jerseys when he graduated from Licking High School in 1944. He sold his Jerseys and enrolled in the College of Agriculture, University of Missouri, Columbia (UMC) the fall of 1944 and graduated in 1948 with a B.S. Degree in Agricultural Education. As a student he was active in the Dairy Club, the Ag Club, Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity and Alpha Tau Alpha. The fall of 1947 he was a member of the UMC Collegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Team. The team placed second in the Intercollegiate Judging Contest at Waterloo, Iowa, just a few points behind Cornell University.
On December 25, 1950, he married Esther Marie McClure who is a graduate of Licking High School, attended Southwest Missouri State University and taught two terms of rural school in Phelps County.
Melvin received many honors during his 40 years of teaching vocational agriculture at the Licking High School. He was honored many times by the Licking Chamber of Commerce and the Intercity Electric Cooperative. He received the “Teacher of the Year” by the UMC College of Agriculture; the Distinguished Service Award from the Missouri Vo-Ag Teachers Association, and the Honorary America Farmers Degree from the National FFA Association. He also received the Gamma Sigma Delta Distinguished Service Award from the UMC Chapter.
One of Melvin’s outstanding accomplishment as a teacher is his 36 FFA judging team that placed first in state competition. Eleven of the teams placed first in the National FFA Contest and another 11 place second. Twenty eight of these 36 teams were either dairy products or dairy cattle judging teams. When he retired in 1988 his teams had won the state dairy products contest for 25 consecutive years. Many of his former students are UMC graduates as a result of his encouragement and effective teaching.
In spite of a busy schedule as a teacher and community leader Melvin managed his farm and bred an outstanding herd of registered Jerseys. He used AI bulls exclusively for 43 years and the very top producing bulls available the past 30 years. Many cows officially classified, “Excellent” and many “Very good”. Many of his cows yielded 70 pounds of milk per day and some two-year olds over 60 pounds. In 1991 he dispersed the Jersey herd except for a few calves, at public auction.
The sale of 54 head, including 41 cows, averaged $1,235. The top cow sold for $3,800 and six head sold between two and three thousand dollars. Melvin has been breeding Jerseys for 48 years and he and Marie are now building another herd.
Melvin and Marie have three children. All three are high school class valedictorians and all are UMC graduates. Karen, the oldest daughter has a B.S. degree in Animal Husbandry and a Masters degree in Dairy Husbandry. She and her husband, Dennis Branstetter, live on a farm at St. James, MO and she is the Youth Extension Agent for Phelps County. Sara, the second daughter, has a B.S. degree in Home Economics and teaches at Licking High School. She and her husband and daughter live at Licking. The son, Stephen, has a degree in Agriculture Economics and is a regional sales manager for Akins Seed Company. He, his wife and four children live at Springfield, Illinois.
Melvin has been active in the Licking Masonic Lodge, Eastern Star and has been worthy patron ten different years. He also serves on the Licking School Board. He has been an active member of the Licking United Methodist Church for 59 years and has served in almost every capacity of the church. He has missed attending church only eleven times in the past 40 years.