Terri Guntharp
In Town: “We both work at McKee Foods Corporation, better known as Little Debbie’s, which is also in Gentry, Ark. I am the Engineering Planning/Scheduling clerk while my husband, Dwain, is the Receiving Supervisor. We have worked there for 13 years and appreciate working for a good Christian-based company. We have two boys, Wyatt, age 10 and JD, age 14, and they go to school in Gentry.”
In the Country: “We own 10 acres outside of Gentry and farm close to 40 acres with Dwain’s brother and father. We have a commercial cow/calf operation with Brangus cross mommas. We have seven on our place with a total of 30 between us. We breed with the Brangus bull we purchased from a neighbor. We like Brangus because they have a smaller calf, so birthing is not so hard on the momma but the calves grow big and strong.
“We band the bull calves usually around a week old and usually try to wean at 6 months and then sort and keep or sell what we don’t want.
“Our boys show at the Benton County Fair each year, so each spring we look at our calf crop and the boys get to pick out which heifer they want to show. This year, both boys got blue ribbons in the commercial heifer category in their breed. The youngest also shows rabbits and got Grand Champion rabbit overall.
“In addition to working our own land, we also do custom baling for farmers in the area. We do both round and square baling. Depending on what the customer wants, we bale on shares or charge by the bale.
“We really like living in the country and being able to have our animals and such. In addition to cows, we also have horses, rabbits, geese, chickens, dogs and a cat. There is always something to do and the boys would rather be outside than sitting in front of the television.”
Future Plans: “Like a lot of people, we would love to be full time farmers. Most of the time, unless you’re born into a large amount of acreage, being a full time farmer is a very difficult thing to achieve. Nonetheless, our oldest would love to make a living farming. He loves being on a tractor more than anything. We’d love to have more land and cows, but only time will tell.”
