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Massie
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person operation. “I do everything relating to the cattle marketing myself,” said Massie, but “breeding is more of a family thing, so we all get involved. My wife, Toni, is very important. Without her support and help, operating the farm would be impossible. Even the kids (daughters Sophie, age 10, and twins Jackie and Laura, 8) can bring the calves into the house and help raise them” if needed, the family working together, sharing experiences. Don Stubbs, “a fencing man extraordinaire,” also works with Massie to make hay and keep the farm running smoothly.
Massie’s farming roots go deep into Rappahannock’s history, back to the end of the Civil War. “The Massies originally came from the Shenandoah Valley,” he said. “They’d lost everything.” Massie’s Corner, the great tract of land surrounding the intersection of what are now U.S. 522 and U.S. 211, came into the family through the marriage of Massie’s great-grandparents nearly 1Q0 years ago.
The property passed down to Massie’s father, then to him, as his brothers and sisters chose other professions. “I knew I wanted to be a farmer at an early age,” Massie recalled.
“Some farmers,” observed Massie, “are one with their farms. Their minds, their bodies, their spirits are one with the land. They are the ones that are successful. It’s a very spiritual thing.”
Over the years, Massie learned that the farm itself operates as an inter- and
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