Family: Wife, Brandy; children Alisyn (15) and Caleb (10)
Hometown: Prairie Grove, Ark.
In Town: “I have worked for Hill Electric in Prairie Grove, Ark., for three and a half years as a residential and commercial job foreman. My wife, Brandy, worked for a physical therapist while she earned a bachelor’s degree in early education. However, her first teaching job was K-4 self-contained special education, so she taught and continued her own education and became K-12 special education certified. Brandy is also the softball coach for Prairie Grove High School. Our daughter Alisyn is a sophomore and plays for the softball team while our 10-year-old son Caleb plays basketball, baseball, and football. Needless to say, we are constantly on the road for practices and games.”
In the Country: “I am part of a 370-acre family farm and work with my father Bill caring for a 45-head commercial cow/calf. In addition, I have a 5-acre home place where we raise Boer meat goats, which our children show. We are working to improve genetics by using AI and ET, something not routinely done. By not using live breeding we don’t have to pay for a high quality buck and have the opportunity to choose high quality Boer genetics from Texas and Oklahoma. We currently take our 20 does to Kansas and Oklahoma for breeding. Donor does stay a month with recips returning home with me. Our animal collection also includes five horses for trail riding, one mule and chickens that Caleb shows. Caleb also competes in 4-H shooting with Brandy serving as advisor to our local 4-H club. Alisyn is a member of both 4-H where she is VP and FFA. We are very proud of the fact that Allison and Caleb have been very successful at the Washington County Fair, receiving the award for Washington County Born and Bred Boer Goat in 2015, 2016, 2017. Family activities include on the extensively timbered family farm and fishing in the pond near our home.”
Future: “One of our more immediate goals is to increase our goat herd to 50, a highly feasible undertaking since we show wethers and can retain females. We are also moving toward having all show goats and phasing out selling for meat. My long-term goal is to get to a point financially where I can farm full-time with my father. Then we will be able to increase our cattle herd size and clear more land to support them. The land was purchased by my father in the 1970s and we like to say it mostly holds the world together while providing a place for hunting deer. The land needs clearing and fencing.”
