Arkansas Neighbors

"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.” This quote from Richard Bach instantly springs to mind when you meet the Cruikshank/Kilgore family. This is a family that has been forged in the fires of adversity and has come together through the healing bonds of love. The 300-acre farm was bought 16 years ago by Kim Cruikshank and her husband Marty Kilgore. They built two chicken houses and a dairy barn on the property after clearing pasture. Marty’s untimely death in 2002, in an accident, left Kim with their four children and a large broiler breeder and cattle operation to run. After years of running the farm and raising the kids, Kim met Cory Cruikshank and they were married in 2007. Kim’s daughter’s Kaylee and Alyssa are grown now, but 15-year-old Whitney and 11-year-old Levi are still at home. The love and pride that Cory feels for his stepchildren is palpable when he talks about their achievements and what hard workers that Whitney and Levi are.

"We try to do this naturally,” explained Joanna Burgin of Crazy Woman Ranch near Salem, Ark. “Our goats are in the pasture. We want them to live off the brush and the land. We want them to work for us, not the other way around.”

"I came to work at the Webb Feed Store on April the twentieth, of 1940, and I have been here ever since,” Fred McKinney said.  Hugh Webb opened the feed store in 1936. The feed store is the oldest feed store in continuous operation in Benton County. “I came to work for Mr. Webb in 1940. In 1944 I married the boss’ daughter,” Fred said.  “We have been married for 64 years now.” Fred’s son has worked at the feed store with his father all his life. Two of Fred’s grandsons also work with them at the store. Fred’s wife kept the books for the feed store up until the last few years. “We still have all the family over every Sunday for dinner,” Fred said.  “We all still go to church together.”

After his wife and family, Gerald Richardson loves two things:  his singing and his cattle. Gerald, a long-time member of the bluegrass and gospel group, Joe Sasser and Friends, has been entertaining in the Ozarks for over 30 years. The group consists of Jimmy Joe Sasser, Nancy Bergeron and Gerald. They are regular performers at the Ozark Folk Center and other bluegrass gatherings. The group performs at volunteer fire departments, schools and other civic organizations, and is loved in the community.

Most everyone involved in agriculture today realizes that every part of a family's farm program has to mesh in order to work together like a well-oiled machine, and different enterprises must mutually benefit each other.

When Ricky Hogue and his wife Regina decided to sell their dairy business five years ago and go into raising beef cattle, they chose Salers (pronounced Sa’lair). With a unique background, the breed is considered among the oldest and most genetically pure of all European cattle, a fact that produces positive effects on the predictability of Salers in crossbreeding programs. Ricky’s cattle are mainly a cross between Salers and Angus, and some are Brangus mix. They own 460 acres, and lease another 500 acres for pasture. They run 250 head of momma cows, half calving in the fall and half calving in the spring, and eight bulls. Years ago, his dad, mom and seven brothers and sisters worked the fruit harvest in California, saved their money, then came back to Arkansas and bought the land which is now the home place.

Arnold Ahrens and his wife Bernice farmed in Fredericksburg, Texas during the mid 1940’s during an extended drought. Some acquaintances that were from the same area of Texas had moved over to Arkansas, and when they came back to visit, they were talking about how grassy it was here. Liking the sound of grass aplenty, Arnold decided to look around at some land in Arkansas. Not long after, he and Bernice settled down around the Sands Springs area, in Lamar, Ark. In 1949, Arnold hired a truck to bring in about 100 head of Angora goats from Texas, along with some sheep and cattle he had. It was the beginning of a long, rich Arkansas farming story for Arnold and Bernice. Through the years they have acquired close to 1,000 acres between Clover Creek all the way to Big Piney.

"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.

The commercial turkey industry has undergone dramatic improvements in growth and feed efficiency since 1920s when U.S. turkey growers produced one turkey for every 29 people. Today, the National Turkey Federation indicates that the average American downs about 16.9 pounds of turkey – a near 108 percent increase since Norman T. Findahl III, (hereafter, Norman) began working as a poultry grower in the late 1970s.

"Gelbvieh calves are small, but grow very quickly. Gelbvieh cows are excellent mothers and are good milkers, too,” Brenda Shealy said. Brenda knows her breed, thanks to a second chance at a life on the farm.