Name: Todd Burgess
Family: Wife, Michelle, daughters, Taylor, Sidney, Jorden and Morgen
In Town: Todd works as the assistant manager with Community Water System in Greers Ferry, Ark. “We are a regional water supplier to communities going south of Greers Ferry Lake, selling retail to Greers Ferry and Fairfield Bay, and wholesale to Quitman, Guy, Greenbrier, Damascus, Wooster, Beaver Fork, Vilonia and Mayflower to a total population of about 65,000. I’ve been working here since 2003.”
In the Country: Todd has a cow-calf operation, with 50 momma cows on 400 acres. They’re an English cross, mostly Black Baldy, and he has two Hereford bulls. "When the calves weigh around 500 pounds, I sell them, and just recently sold off this year’s rotation of calves. I’ve got three started on next year’s crop, a month old, and had another one just yesterday." Todd also custom bales hay; 3,000 round bales this year for other people.
How do you balance the farm and the job?
“It’s tough, to farm and work a full time job. I’m busy from daylight till dark every day and make sure the tractor lights work good, because I might be working until midnight. The kids spend a lot of time helping, not on the tractor, but we’ve made it a family time checking the cattle. I maintain regular office hours, typically on an eight to five schedule, but I’m on call 24/7, it just depends on what’s going on. At the farm, I do the work before and after work at the water system."
Why do you farm?
“I grew up on a farm, the fourth generation of farmers in my family. It’s one of those deals where country living is just part of you. I attended Arkansas Tech for my engineering degree, and worked at Russellville and Texarkana. Every job I’ve had was in some way connected to environmental stewardship. It took 12 years for us to be able to move back here. The whole time we were living off (the farm), that drive was there to move back."
