About the Farm/Family

Farmer's Fallow Deer is owned and operated by 
Bob and Wanda Farmer and Brad and Shirley Farmer. We have been "traditional family farmers" for generations. We became interested in Fallow Deer in 1987 and purchased our first breeding stock in 1990. Farmer's Fallow Deer is located around 20 miles southwest of Wichita, Ks, just north of Viola.

Bob and Wanda live on the farm site where they have lived for most of the past 57 years. Bob has been a farmer all his life and Wanda spent 30 years as a kindergarten teacher. Bob is a member of the Viola Lions Club and Wanda is a member of the Viola FCE (Family & Community Education).
In addition to raising fallow deer, Bob and Brad also raise wheat, milo, and hay. They also have some beef cattle, a horse, a few donkeys, a lama and a pony. They have around 800 acres of land that they farm. Bob grew up farming with his parents just as Brad has now done. Much of the land has been in the family for four generations. They had a dairy farm for a while so the concept of raising livestock was not new to them when they started looking into raising fallow deer. In fact, part of what pecked their interest was how similar the two forms of livestock where to raise.

Brad and Shirley live in Viola with their two children Kari, 14, and Gary, 11.

Viola is a small town with a population of around 200 people.

Brad works full time at the farm. Shirley is a certified math teacher who is working as a Math Consultant. She is the Director of Staff Development at The South Center Kansas Education Service Center. Brad is very active away from the farm also. He is the Assistant Chief on the Viola Volunteer Fire Department, a Past President of the Viola Lions Club, and is on the CLF Board (Cervid Livestock Foundation) of the North American Deer Farmer Association (NADeFA) . He has service on the board of directors in the past.

Both families attend the Viola Presbyterian Church where Shirley serves as the Clerk of the Session and Wanda is an Elder on the Session.  All adults are elders in the church.

Of course the children keep all of us busy. They play in the band and vocal music at school, and softball in May and June. The summer brings, church camp, and working on the farm. Just like any children their ages there is always something that needs to be done. Gary attends Conway Springs Middle School this year. Kari is at Conway Spring High School.We are members of the North American Deer Farmers Association, and we are a "From the Land of Kansas" business. Our product is processed Yoder Meats in Yoder, KS which is inspected by the Kansas Department of Agriculture.