Mark and Kim Huffman have been farming at Huffman Family Farms near Brookland, Ark., since 2017
BROOKLAND, ARK. – Mark Huffman was raised on a row crop and family cattle farm, and he loved the farm life and animals, as did his father. In the final years of his father’s life, Mark was able to give his father a deeply loved wish: to revive the family farm.
“I grew up with a family cattle farm. It was a cow/calf operation that was one man’s love,” Mark said. “Eventually, due to retirement, the operation was closed, although it was never forgotten. Later, the head of the family would experience a stroke, and the cattle farm was revived as a way to connect. It provided an excuse for side-by-side rides and loved conversations.”
“It was both their dream to see this farm revived,” Kim said. “There wouldn’t be a farm without Mark’s father.
“This farm is very sentimental.”
Marks father had a stroke in 2009 that left him homebound and full-time in a wheelchair. Eight years later In 2017, Mark and Kim purchased two commercial show heifers for their daughter in FFA and 4H. That began Huffman Family Farms. They added 20 more heavy bred cows from a nearby farm that fall. Mark would load his father up in the side-by-side and take him for rides to check cattle and talk farming. After his and his wife’s passing, Mark and Kim moved to the farm in 2021. The farm is now once again a thriving farm in their small rural community as well as an act of love for both the farm and the family members who started it.
“Our small operation, during the pandemic, switched from an all Cow/Calf Operation to mainly direct-to-consumer Custom Beef. Our family has always shared our beef with our friends and customers’ families, and now, due to feedback, we listened and have pivoted to a mostly USDA-inspected retail direct-to-consumer operation,” Mark said. “Our main goal is to provide our customers with fresh, local, tender, and tasty grain-finished beef where they will know where and how it was raised.”
Kim said that during the pandemic’s meat shortage, they first switched to offering a direct-to-consumer custom freezer beef option.
“There was such a need for meat then. We kind of got lucky. We had already pre-booked our custom processing appointments for the year. This was a blessing because processors booked out one to two years quickly when the pandemic started in 2020. Because of this, we were able to sell it by the quarter, half, and whole,” she said. “We sold it directly to the consumer. We then pivoted to offering USDA-inspected cuts of beef in 2022, as customers began wanting to purchase smaller quantities.”
Both the Huffmans have full-time jobs outside the farm – Mark is an accountant, and Kim works at the University of Arkansas’ Craighead County Extension Office – which means they are only available at certain times to sell their beef.
They sell their beef at two local farmers’ markets, a local craft and artisan market, and through their small shop on their property in the evenings after work and on the weekends.
“We traded two custom beef for an enclosed trailer from one of our customers,” Kim said. “We then turned it into a mobile farm store and farmers market business that is thriving.”
Kim runs the farm store’s day-to-day operations, taking customer orders and answering questions through calls, emails, text messages, and on their website. She then packs the orders and schedules pickups after work and on the weekends. They are working on having more regular hours and, in the future, look forward to maybe eventually making the farm and the new farm store full-time, Kim said. She wants to invest more time and energy into doing more on the farm and expanding their pasture to plate direct-to-consumer sales.
Another change they’ve made in recent years is reducing the size of their herd to make it more manageable for just the two of them. They now have about 40 cows, a herd bull, and their feeder calves. Their cattle are mainly commercial Angus. They pasture raise and grain finish. The grain is locally sourced and mixed at a local feed mill. They rotationally graze their herd between pastures. This allows for better pasture grazing and herd management. And they cut and bale their own hay on the farm as well as some custom baling on ground neighbors offered in exchange for fresh beef.
“We try not to waste any part of the animal,” Kim said of their current offerings.
For example, Kim renders the beef fat into tallow, which is used in various skin care creams, cooking oils, and lip balms. They freeze-dried the beef hearts and livers into dog treats, and they offer a variety of flavors in “JAE’s Jerky” in honor of Mark’s father. The bones are used for making nutrient-rich bone broth, and even the cow’s manure is used in the soil as fertilizer for the high tunnel.
Adding social media as both a marketing tool and an additional small income source has been another recent development. Kim said that if anyone wants to start using social media to promote their own farms, they should “start small but just start.”
Kim started with an introductory video, and she makes her videos “fun, educational, and interactive.” She says, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
The venture has not only been fun, but it’s also helped spread the word about their beef and other products.
“People have taken an interest in the day-to-day operations of the farm,” she said. “Especially if they can’t do it themselves due to lack of time, space or maybe they don’t have the land. People really like to see & know where their food is coming from.”
Kim said that they ultimately want to build a lasting legacy for their four children and grandchildren. They also want to make even more connections with their community. One way that they plan to partner more with the community is to invite students who need community service hours to help them on the farm. Not only will the students be fulfilling a statewide school requirement, they will be getting valuable hands-on experience.
Mark and Kim also plan to continue being 4-H and FFA supporters.
“Our children are Arkansas 4H and FFA alumni. We promote and give back to those organizations every chance we get,” she said.
Regardless of what the future holds, Mark and Kim look forward to spending it together.
“We are a duo, a team,” she said. “We work pretty well together to live and build this dream.”
Their family is also a big part of that dream.
“During farmers market season, or even here around the farm, it’s not uncommon to see Mark, our daughters, my mom, my sister, or our grands helping or hanging out at our booth. Our sons or Sons in-law have even hauled our trailer for me when Mark’s not available,” Kim said. “It’s all hands on deck to help meet our customers needs. So when choosing our farm name we knew ‘Family’ had to be in it. We simply couldn’t do it all without their help and support.”
Huffman Family Farms can be found on Facebook, TikTok, and their website: https://www.huffmanfamilyfarmsllc.com.
