Arkansas Neighbors

Benjie and Cathy Stalcup, live at the end of a very interesting road, with trees that greet you with smiling faces, as you drive up the lane. At the end of the road it opens up to a very neatly kept, peaceful view of a poultry farm that Benjie runs, while Cathy works in town as plant manager of Hanes Brand, Inc. "We have been farming since 1986,” she stated, "we started with 70 acres in the beginning. Benjie and I decided that instead of moving with the company we both worked for, we would put in a laying house,” said Cathy. “I worked the laying houses for about 2 years for Tyson, while Benjie went to work helping in the start up of the rendering plant,” she replied.

Underneath bustling traffic on Interstate 540 sits a piece of Eden in rural West Fork, Ark.

The market hogs industry has changed tremendously since the days before. No more are the days of hand feeding, carrying water and digging wallows to help keep the hogs cool on hot summer days, stated Sam McKenzie.

If you’re looking for a traditional cattle operation with a little bit of uniqueness to it, look no further than Mt. Vernon, Ark. This is the home of Jerry Henry, his family, horses and cattle business.

John and Donna Fields had a dream 21 years ago; to someday own the many acres of countryside that John played and explored on as a child growing up. The couple moved back to Jay, Okla., from Alaska in 1990 and began taking steps toward their dream. Starting with only 40 acres, John and Donna worked daily to make that dream a reality. Today, that dream is the successful 550-acre farm, Bar Circle F Ranch.

For Dr. Joan Burke, research animal scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, Ark., finding the answer to one question fueled them. The question – if chickens could break the parasite life cycle of Haemonchus contortus or Barberpole worm to lessen the infestation rate in the stomachs of sheep and goats?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average age of all U.S. principal farm operators in the 2002 Census was 55.3 years of age. Chrisie Schwerin Smith is swimming against that tide. An exceptional young lady, Chrisie is the future of agriculture in America today.

Sometimes challenges create opportunities, and Eddie and Lorraine Kinzer of Kinzer Polled Herefords in Hogeye, Ark., this year took advantage of a challenging situation to improve the farm.

Billie Warm lives on a small farm, which was originally a stage stop on old Cabin Mill Road near Mountain Home, Ark. When she and her husband, Tim, moved from Ava, Mo., she began by raising cows and horses. She now raises smaller animals, including sheep, goats and chickens. The sheep and goats are sold for meat and the chickens are raised for egg production.

The word retirement means different things to different people. When Russ and Doris Breitenstein retired from Kansas City, Kansas to northern Arkansas, they probably never thought they’d be raising African Boer goats. But after they bought 16 acres just north of Green Forest, Ark., they decided to do something special with the land.