Arkansas Neighbors

“It’s a little over 100 miles just to check all of the cattle today.” To say Beechfork Ranch is spread out, is an understatement. Shawn Burgess, Manager, gave Ozarks Farm & Neighbor the lay of the land for their operations, “We have headquarters here in Prim, Ark. We also have land and leases in eastern and southern Cleburne County and several hundred acres in White County. We grow out some replacement heifers down in White County, too. That trip doesn’t count the horse and cattle operations down in Weatherford, Texas, and then we have the herd out in Magdalina, N.M. With only five full time employees here, we stay pretty busy.”

Kent "Woody" Porter started in the business fighting bulls. “One night me and a guy named Scooter were fighting bulls together. It was a tough show. Scooter split his lip and broke his nose. I broke my hand and something else,” Woody said. “We went to get paid, sitting at the fair waiting for the stockman contractor to come pay us our money. In walked the rodeo clown. He wasn’t even dirty. All happy go lucky. Nothing hurt. The contractor paid us and then paid the clown twice as much. I said I wanted his job. The contactor said,  'Good.  You’ve got it next week.' That is how I became a rodeo clown.”

Justin Luther describes himself as a farm boy. He has diversified that passion into a variety of agricultural pursuits that keeps his family on...

Joe Bob Staton grew up in the shadow of Mt. Magazine. He always knew that he wanted to farm. When he married Carrie Isaacs almost 11 years ago, they started out on their own with 17 cows on a few rented acres. Since then, the commercial beef herd has grown to 120 cows on over 400 acres that they own and lease a mile or two from his dad’s Lazy S Ranch.

"I’ve waited four years to be here and if I don’t get the one I want today, I think I’ll just cry,” said Kriss Yunker of Flippin Ark., just before the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Mustang and burro sale held on Nov. 7 at the Cattlemen’s Livestock Auction in Harrison, Ark.

Four generations of the Swan family continue to operate the farm, and have plans for future expansion Swan Bros. Dairy’s history can be traced back...

"If you take a young horse and start it out right, with the right attitude, you’ll have a good horse the rest of your life,” explained Rita Schmidt of Shoal Creek Ranch in Mountain Home, Ark. “That’s what we do here with our horses,” she added.

Bill and Angie Hewat are getting in on the”ground level” of Speckle Park cattle  GOSHEN, ARK. - Speckle Park cattle are a breed of cattle...

Family and hard work have helped three generations of Skeets ranch and farm their 640 acres near Branch, Ark. After school and his stint in the army, Larry Skeets and his wife, Linda, returned in 1979 to the farm owned by Larry’s father, Raymond. And they have been there ever since.

Young producer Beau Smith operates a multi-species farm DEER, ARK. - “I do it all myself,” Beau Smith said of his farming operation. The young...