• Hometown: Greenland, Ark.
• Family: Partner Bev, and daughters Jana and Jacinda
In Town: “My (business) partner Richie Weaver and I both grew up on my grandparents’ farm. Our grandparents, Frank and Geneva Higginbotham, moved here from South Dakota with both our parents, raising us on the farm. After graduating high school, we knew we didn’t want to work within four walls after starting at a factory job for a few months. My specialty is construction like my father Ronnie, and Richie’s is roofing and bookkeeping. Together we have a construction company that does everything from building houses and replacing roofs, to remodeling and general repair. We ran into Steve Devore and he has now worked side-by-side with us for 10 years. He is especially valuable because he’s smaller and can get into tight places more easily.”
In the Country: “My childhood on the farm developed a love for agriculture making my raising a few cattle very predictable. Though I had known Bev since middle school, we hooked up about 10 years ago with our love of the country being a strong bond. She’s really into training and raising show and working horses, in addition to competing in the barrel racing circuit. I moved out to her 82 acre spread in Greenland , Ark., and raised cattle while she worked with horses. We are both trying to slow down a little so her herd is currently down to six from 18. Though she doesn’t breed horses on the farm, she occasionally buys a colt to raise and sell, unless she falls in love again and it joins the herd instead. Because we had fencing issues, I sold out my 40 momma commercial herd to get the time and space to fix the fences. When done, I plan on starting a new herd with 10 to 12 heifers and a young bull. I want to keep the herd on the smaller size so we can do some traveling. My plan is to use range cubes in the winter and at least a couple times a week during the rest of the year the so cattle stay tame. The goal is to raise all or most of my own hay and sell calves by private treaty or on halves so the buyer pays the processing fee for our meat. We love having the four grandchildren around. A favorite activity is riding horses putting the youngest ones in front of us as we go, or putting them up an old horse and leading them around. The business pays the bills and the critters fuel our happiness.”
