Family: Wife Angie; sons Tory Casey and Paden; and daughter Jordan
Hometown: Natural Dam, Ark.
In Town: “One of my neighbors works in construction and three years ago complained about the price of waste removal from construction sites. I decided to open SRK Waste with a rolloff truck and nine 30-yard dumpsters. I deliver dumpsters to construction sites across much of Northwest Arkansas and then pick them up and get rid of the waste at several locations, choosing whichever one is closest to the jobsite. I work my rolloff job about two days a week. My wife Angie works for Cedarville School District as a bus driver, in addition to being a half-time teacher’s aide and half-time office worker, positions she has held for eight years.”
In the Country: “My country life has three parts. First is a litter clean out business with three trucks. The job tends to be seasonal with most clients wanting their houses cleaned out in the spring. When needed, my son or a friend help me. In the last few years, rain has extended the season length due to wet litter issues. I started haying because there are no chicken farms in my area and I didn’t want to buy hay, especially because prices get outrageous during droughts. There is little or no litter to sell because I use some on my place and the farmers use most of the rest to fertilize their own fields. The second part of my country life is a 70-cow commercial cattle herd with a Limousin base mixed with Simmental and Angus bred this year by a Charolais bull. To maximize profit, I vaccinate my calves, and this year added black leg. For flies, I use a rub and spray as well as providing loose, medicated and free-choice mineral. Calves are weaned between 350 and 500 pounds. I then take them to the Fort Smith, Ozark or Stilwell sale barns, according to which sale barn is selling that day. Another way I keep operation costs down is to raise hay. I have 220 Bermuda, fescue and natural clover acres set aside for haying and typically bale twice a year. I reserve 300 bales for me and sell the rest locally. What makes all of this work is having a flexible, sometimes complicated schedule, that accommodates both my customers and my farm.”
Future: “Having always been a wannabe cattle rancher, I would like to help my interested sons get an easier start than the one I had. When Angie and I retire, we hope to have time to travel west to see relatives and perhaps even have some grandchildren to spoil. I love my wife, my kids and all the adventures and misadventures of our lives.”
