Arkansas Neighbors

Inspired by his father and former ag teachers, Josh Baker knew he wanted a career in agriculture. The Baxter County native decided to go to college and major in ag education. Completing his Bachelor of Science degree at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia in 2003, Josh applied for a teaching position at Mountain Home High School, his alma mater. It was an exciting opportunity for Josh because he would be working with one of the ag instructors who had been his inspiration. Josh said, “I had two great ag teachers. One was Jacquie Albright – she’s still a teacher here in our junior high – and Roger Steele, my other ag teacher. He’s now retired. I actually taught with him the first two years. He got me started and then retired two years later.”

Rich history, strong family values and respect for those that came before are standards in the Walton Jefferson family.

As all farmers know, it’s been hard to stay down on the farm during these past few years of recession. Frank and Christy DePriest of Midway, Ark., have learned that diversification is the key.

A famous writer named Thomas Wolfe once wrote a renowned novel entitled "You Can’t Go Home Again." Greg and Cheryl Satterfield, who currently live in Harrison, Ark., intend to prove him wrong. Greg and Cheryl met in a horticulture class at the University of Arkansas and then lived in Tulsa, Okla., and were later transferred to New Jersey. After three years in New Jersey, the couple decided to move back to the area, partly to get out of the more urban areas and partly to escape the high cost of living. They also had children and felt they needed to provide the children with a better lifestyle.

Unlike so many people who live here, Philip and Connie Swan have no history of family or previous ties to the Ozarks. Phil said, “I had always heard that the Ozarks was a nice place to retire. Plus we were both ‘country’ to start with and didn’t want to be in the city anymore.” With encouragement from some friends who knew about the area, Connie went online and started looking. They decided to check out the Ozarks prior to their retirement. They ended up in Branson, Mo., and started looking around with the help of a real estate agent. The Lead Hill area of Boone County, Ark., caught their eye. The first piece of property they saw was the 33 acres they bought.

Many people wish to actually retire around age 55. Not so for Lee and Linda Ragains of Sallisaw, Okla. While it’s true that Lee retired from veterinary practice in Nebraska, he and Linda buy ranches and improve them for resale while running their registered Longhorn operation. They have 200 head made up of 120 momma cows and seven bulls with the rest being calves and yearlings. Two previous spreads were a 1,400-acre ranch in Duncan, Okla., and a 1,780-acre ranch in Lynchburg, Mo.

The Burnetts live way out in the hills of Madison County even though their postal address is Winslow, Ark. Destry and Shannon Burnett homeschool their daughters: Sagely, 11, Sierra, 10 and the youngest Sicily is 5. Shannon and her three daughters consider themselves the four “s’s.”

The Billie Blevins farm in Boone County is a rare place for the Ozarks. His 128-acre cattle farm is almost flat. No hills, no hollers, just good flat ground. Billie was born in the area and has owned the property where they live since 1957. Just a few years later he and his new bride, Dorothy, built a house and moved on the place. They’ve now been married 52 years, raised three children and are still in the same house after all these years.

Russ and Marla Jones are partners with Marla’s parents Jerry and Shirley Green in a diverse, small acreage farming operation in Muldrow, Okla. The farm includes dairy goats, Boer goats, chickens, St. Croix hair sheep and Jersey cows that supply area residents with milk, milk products and meat. Other family members are also involved causing Russ to comment, “This is as communal as you can be in the United States without raising eyebrows. We all work together.”

Gene and Dianna Buffington live on a 530-acre ranch in Watts, Okla., on land that once belonged to Gene’s parents. They also have 30 acres in Siloam Springs, Ark., that is Dianna’s.