A white picket fence welcomes visitors as they drive up the Abbott Farm’s driveway near London, Ark. You see soft rolling hills, and grazing Fox Trotter mares and their foals scattered across the pasture. As you look to the west you see cattle grazing and four Tyson chicken houses sitting to the north of the house. Brent and Jamie Abbott both hold down full-time jobs, plus they have three little girls; Taylor, 9, has been showing horses since she was 7. Tori is 7 and has just started to show. While the little one Sydney is 3, and she just enjoys riding with anyone or by herself with someone leading.
Brent was raised on a farm and Jamie was raised in town, but both had grandparents that were farmers. Brent and Jamie got married in their early 20s and they both wanted to get into the poultry business. Jamie’s grandfather, Paul Weir, had a friend that was selling his turkey farm that had a couple of turkey houses on it along with the land. “We went and looked at it and we liked it,” said Brent. “And being in our early 20s we knew that we would need help, so we went into a partnership with my parents, and bought it in 2000. We didn’t get a chicken contract for about a year, but we had the horses and cattle to manage.”
Brent continued, “We gutted the two turkey houses, all except the roof and trusses which we retro fitted, and built two new ones. Jamie and I have a Super Premium contract with Tyson, which can require expensive upgrades, but it keeps us finishing at the top on every batch. We’ve added pellet stoves, which is a dry heat.” Brent explained, “You have to add additional propane or natural gas as a backup, but they are fully automated and run on wood pellets. It keeps the houses drier which in turn keeps your litter drier. They have big fans that blow the warm air around, so if you have a bad winter the equivalent is 95 cents a gallon; it is your biggest expense in the winter for the houses. We usually grow anywhere from five to six batches of chickens a year. With five batches you can come out pretty even, but the sixth batch is where you come out the other side.”
Brent and Jamie also raise registered Fox Trotter horses, Brent has rode since he was about 8 years old when they lived in Texas. He and his sister started showing in East Texas and he has been showing ever since. Brent and Jamie have won three Overall World Championships with their stallions. Brent has won two World Championships riding himself. Brent‘s family, grandparents included, gather most evenings and ride in the outdoor arena. “It’s really a great way to spend family time together,” stated Jamie.
Brent added, “One of the favorite things for my dad is to raise and break young horses.”
“We had cattle and horses before we had chickens,” explained Brent. “We raise commercial cattle. We keep about 15 to 20 replacement heifers a year, and cull about 15 older cows, which keeps the herd young. We have five bulls and rotate them every four years. Our cows calve the first part of January to the end of March. We catch the calves when they are born after they get their colostrum at about two days on the ground and brand. We sell grass-fed calves when they reach about 500 to 600 pounds. We don’t medicate heavy; we just vaccinate. We have five 40-acre fields where we rotate our cattle and horses, plus we graze the fields around the house during the winter months.”
“My suggestion to anyone going into farming especially if they are young, is make sure one or both of you is working off the farm. It’s hard to make it without having some help, but the quality of farm life is good, I love it,” concluded Brent.
