Novinger Farms today operates a commercial Angus cow herd, feedlot, steel pipe and rod fencing business and row crop operation based out of Kirksville, Missouri. They made Kirksville their home in 1966 and have since expanded the farm to Macon, Knox, & Adair counties in Missouri. In 1988 they added additional row crop ground in southern Iowa near the town of Pulaski.
The current Novinger Farms has been in operation since 1946, founded by Gail H. Novinger who started the farm and remains active in the operation today. Gail is a 9th generation farmer and one of ten kids, four of which became farmers. Originally the Novingers were German immigrants who moved to what is now the United States in the early 1700s. The Novingers moved west to Missouri in the early 1840s.
“Hard work is the foundation of common sense” – Gail H. Novinger
Gail married Mary F. Johnson in December of 1953. Gail and Mary had four kids, James, Jane Ann, Mark, and Carolyn. The two sons James and Mark Novinger operate the farm today along with their father’s guidance. Carolyn Novinger assists the farm as the comptroller.
Over the years, improving the land has always been a philosophy of Novinger Farms. The Novingers have built several miles of terraces across their land. In the 1950s Gail began with extensive drainage work to bottom lands in the Chariton River delta building one of the first “W” ditches in the region.
Novinger Farms 