Michael and Melinda Hillian
In Town: “I have been a mobile diesel mechanic for the Washington County Road Department for the last four years and plan on retiring from there. I also coach Prairie Grove softball for kids 8-year-olds and under. My daughter, Chloe, plays as a pitcher while 2-year-old Noah cheers from the sidelines. My wife, Melinda, worked for Headstart for 10 years before being employed two years ago as a paraprofessional at Northside Elementary in Siloam Springs, Ark., where she works with pre-K,” said Michael Hillian.
Country Life: “My wife and I own 88 acres in the northwest corner of Fayetteville, Ark., on which we raise dairy show stock and a commercial beef herd. We now have a dairy herd of 20 and are milking only five but will be milking 12 by March. We sell raw milk to locals by word-of-mouth. We decided not to keep bulls for either herd finding the AI process to be cost effective since I do it myself after learning how by taking two classes. Because we have every breed of dairy momma except for Brown Swiss, we select straws from different bulls for each of the dairy mommas in order to produce the best possible calves. A big part of our life is my daughter currently and my son sometime in the future showing our dairy animals. Chloe loves it and is in charge of teaching them to walk with a halter. I watch the market when selling our commercial beef and often sell at 400 pounds rather than 600 or higher in order to make the most money per pound,” added Michael.
Balancing Life in Town and in the Country: “Town life gives us income and insurance so we can live the life we were born to love. When I retire someday, I hope to devote full time to farming and increase the dairy herd to 60. In the meantime our life is crazy, going nonstop with me getting up at 4 a.m., for the first milking of the day and coming home from work usually in time to do the second before it’s off to softball practice,” said Michael.
