Arkansas Neighbors

Good business decisions, family involvement and good land purchases have led to the success and growth of the Clark family’s owned and operated businesses. Dr. Robert Clark started The Flying C Ranch with 16 cow/calf pairs as a hobby and business has grown over the years to include 600 acres, 150 momma cows, four registered bulls, Clark’s Pecan Grove and a hay business. They have made careful observations of the industry along the way. What started as a hobby is now the family profession.

The week after graduating from Farmington High School, Jim Rieff became a meat cutter in Prairie Grove, Ark., at Southern Mercantile. Then in 1959, he was offered an opportunity to buy into a new grocery store in Rogers, Ark., if he would run the meat operation. Jim and Katie Rieff decided to do just that and still live on 40 acres they purchased in 1973 in Rogers. Little did he know back then that tractor restoring would become an important hobby.

Paul Vaughn returned to Oklahoma after serving in the Army to start his cattle legacy. “I am sure my grandfather had some cattle but, it wasn’t at a large scale until dad,” Paul’s youngest son, Cody said. Paul started buying land and cattle raising strawberries to help pay for land, clearing it and buying cattle. During that time, Paul married Cammela and they raised five children. “There are five of us kids, four boys and one girl. Randy is the oldest. Marty and Olin were next. Then came Cammy and me,” Cody said. “I was an accident they tell me.

Now that the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm to School Month in October has come to a close, school districts throughout the United States still have an opportunity to participate. The program benefits the schools, nonprofit entities and the local farmer, rancher and/or grower. The grant provides assistance to eligible entities who want to implement farm-to-school programs to improve access to local food sources. The USDA awards up to $5 million in competitive grants annually for training, support, planning, equipment purchases, school gardens, partnerships and the implementation of farm to school programs.

Ron and Shelley Terrell have been married for 14 years and have a son, Damien, who is 10. Ron was raised on a farm in Stilwell, Okla. Shelley is from Chouteau, Okla.

Austin and Kayla Pratt live outside of Harrison, Ark., and are starting a new farm, a daunting task in this day and age. They rent 200 acres on a family farm dating back to 1845 when the land was first purchased by Kayla’s great, great, great grandfather David Trotter.

When Susie Means was a little girl, her grandpa, Carthel Means, encouraged her interest in his tractor. “When I was little he would let me cut hay with that big green tractor,” Susie said. “I was going really slowly. He told me to kick it up. Then he told me one day, I’m going to get you to where you can hook it and run it all by yourself. And he did,” she continued.

Agritourism is a growing industry in Arkansas supported by a detailed website for 345 locations throughout the state that includes livestock, wineries, horse camps, crops and farmers markets. With Halloween just around the corner, pumpkin patches and mazes are in full swing. McGarrah Farms Pumpkin Patch in Pea Ridge, Ark., contains both a pumpkin patch and a maze.

Rick Stanislaus was raised in Watts, Okla., and followed a long route until he finally returned to the area and became the ag teacher at Watts High School.

The code of the West is that a man’s word is as good as his bond. This is the philosophy behind Chimney Rock Cattle Company and the GENETRUST partnership.