We recently sat down for a short Q & A with Allen Stewart, former Arkansas Farm Bureau board member and cattle and poultry farmer, on his ranch near Mena in Polk County. Stewart served 14 years on the ArFB board and continues to serve as president of Polk County Farm Bureau. Now 76-years-old, he reflects […]
The Allen family settled in Grant County and began raising cattle there in the late 1800’s. Jamey Allen and his wife Sara are continuing that legacy on a farm consisting of around 1,200 commercial crossbred beef mama cows spread across four counties. “Angus, Hereford, and Brahman are the predominant breeds in our herd,” says Jamey. […]
Craighead County’s Chris Damron is a first-generation farmer, an increasingly rare designation these days, as starting a farming operation “from scratch” can be a cost-prohibitive proposition. Damron says that he and his wife, Breanne, took on the challenge because “farming the land was my calling.” Chris and Breanne’s efforts have paid off, as their farming […]
Fred and Dorothy Sue Denison may have been in the farming game for quite some time, but they are both sharp as a whip and still working hard on their beef cattle and hay farm in Independence County. It’s their passion and dedication that have helped Fred and Dorothy Sue earn the title of the […]
In this day and time, you don’t see many first generation farmers as it’s a hard business to get into, but Chris and Nesha Smith have defeated the odds. They purchased their farm in 2004 and have worked diligently to build their cattle herd and instill in their 10-year-old daughter their same passion for agriculture. […]
Phil and Lesia Hamaker grew up on small farms. Each of their grandparents grew up in a time when almost everyone had a garden to help feed their large families. So they inherited their love for farming at a young age. Their first farm was a 10-acre hog operation (farrow to finish) and 5 acres […]
Allen Glidewell got his start in farming with a $5,000 FSA loan and 10 cow-calf pairs. He and his wife, Melissa, have turned those 10 cow-calf pairs into 210 head of cows, 42 replacement heifers and 20 bulls along with three turkey houses and 412 acres of hay on their farm in St. Joe. Allen […]
After multiple setbacks in the 80s, twins Jerry and Terry Fuller were told they had to return to the farm after college. Otherwise, they would have been faced with the unthinkable – selling the family farm. The drought of 1980, the purchase of another large farm and the 80s price crash all contributed to rough […]
From Battlefields to Farm Fields ~ Veteran Signs Up for Farm Duty Damon Helton is a veteran farmer. Correction: Damon Helton is a veteran and a farmer. Helton is a decorated veteran of the U.S. armed forces with five deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan, but he’s a relative newcomer to agriculture. Still, watching Helton zoom […]
The Richard and Jennifer Broach family of Vandervoot (Polk County) is the Western District Farm Family of the Year. They have six chicken houses, 85 head of cattle and hay on a total of 465 acres. The Broaches began farming 19 years ago and were only farming on 20 acres, which they used for hay […]