Jon and Valerie Melton
In Town: Jon and Valerie Melton are a busy young couple from Yellville, Ark. They own Double Diamond Auction Service, Panther Den Mini-Storage and a lawn care service. Jon is also a licensed realtor, working for Gerald Hammon Realty, while Valerie works for the Yellville-Summit School District.
In the Country: Jon Melton and his wife, Valerie, have a commercial cow/calf herd. Jon began building his herd in 1989 and historically has run a herd of 100 momma cows on his 99-owned and 260-leased acres. This year, with the drought and loss of pasture, Jon has cut his herd back to 45. He buys all his hay, because even though he sold farm equipment for years, he said, “It never penciled out for me to own my own hay equipment.” Jon said one of the main reasons he farms is, “to show my son, Dalton, that there is a different way to live. We teach him responsibility, instead of sitting in front of the TV with a remote control.”
How do your businesses complement one another?
“As a cattleman, you have knowledge that helps you sell farmland. Having personal background helps. I can relate to some customers when others can’t.”
How do you make it all work?
“In the back seat of my truck I carry a clean pair of britches and mouthwash, a clean shirt and a charged cell phone. As for the auction, Valerie is what makes that work. She is super organized. With hundreds of individual items at an auction, she makes those pennies match at the end of the day.”
Story and Photo by Jack and Pam Fortner
