Land and cattle have tied together the threads of Scott Price’s family for more than 100 years. Scott’s grandfather Claude Wofford bought the original 200-acre ranch in Crawford County, Ark., from Scott’s great-uncle in the 1890s. “My grandfather had three girls, my mother being one of them,” explained Scott. “He was a railroader, and me being the grandkid, I tried to spend every moment I could here.”
Claude eventually sold half-interest in the ranch to Scott’s father, Gerald, who then worked the ranch with his son. Scott married Martha, and the farm eventually passed to them.
Today, Scott and Martha run 100 mixed-breed beef cattle on their 320 acres, as well as a few bulls, some horses and a mule named Clay. “The cattle operation has really provided family unity,” said Scott. “It’s difficult to run this kind of operation without family involvement.”
Scott’s wife Martha has been involved with agriculture for the last 34 years, but she didn’t start out that way. “I was a city girl and knew nothing about farms or cattle,” said Martha. “Over the years, we’ve raised rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats and cattle.
Scott hopes other families can find the same sort of “togetherness” through ranching and farming that his family has enjoyed. “I encourage families, if possible, to find something they can work together at as a family project,” said Scott.
Scott’s involvement in agriculture has gotten even deeper recently, as he took over as manager for the Farmer’s Coop in Fayetteville, Ark.
Scott’s long-time experience as a cattle rancher helped him identify with his customer base at the Farmer’s Coop.
Before becoming the Farmer’s Coop Manager, Scott oversaw the Price Agency in Fort Smith, which he still owns. Scott’s previous real estate experience gives him insight to the difficulties in keeping land in the family, and keeping that land devoted to agriculture and ranching. “What worries me the most, with the economy like it is, is everybody struggling to have a job and pay living expenses,” said Scott.
Besides increasing costs, Scott sees other factors causing the number of farmers to get smaller. “At a Coop meeting, CEO Jay Carter talked about how back in the 1960s, how many people one farmer fed. Back in that period, one farmer fed about two-dozen people. Now, in our era, one farmer is feeding 155 people. Over that span of years, it went from 24 to 155. We’re seeing family farms disappear,” said Scott. “Agriculture is threatened by environmental issues, and it’s getting harder and harder to meet the demand. I don’t know how we can maintain that kind of pace if we don’t have young people excelling at agriculture and producing food.”
The Price family has continued to pass traditions from one generation to another and hopes to see their roots deeply planted in agriculture in the future.
