Katie O’Neal is fine with being called a farmer’s daughter.
She refers to herself as such, even though she is a farmer herself now. Her father, Ted Smith, grew rice and soy beans in a tiny Cajun town in southern Louisiana. Now, his second of four daughters culls a 56-acre property nestled between a bayou named Elbow and a river named Mississippi off a road named River.
Katie and her husband, Bud, have five cows, 25 chickens, an orchard of fruit trees, a blossoming garden and a few pesky wild foxes that have literally found the hen house (don’t worry, Katie’s on the case). Their farming tools, three tractors among them, are strewn within a giant red barn situated behind a palatial brick home. Around a swimming pool and outdoor kitchen, two dogs, three cats and three children lounge on the cool patio.
