Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper – written for, by & about farmers

Ralph and Arlene Reid have settled for their retirement years on a 60-acre homestead south of Ozark, Ark., in a town called Paris. Ah, the romance of Paris!

Balancing a busy medical practice with a beef cattle operation is all in a day’s work for Dr. William Galloway of Russellville, Ark.
A dermatologist in Russellville since he opened his practice in 1976, William has about 25 head of purebred Galloway Belted cattle on his 62-acre farm.

Two necessary traits are inherent in every successful Arkansas farmer.  One is the ability to accept change for the better.  The other is knowing when to hold onto something that is uncommonly good.

Nestled in the rolling hills of Greenwood, Ark., is the home of Charolais breeders Jim and Reba Bray. The hard work ethic and family morals Mr. Bray learned growing up on a post-depression farmstead have proved to be a blessing to his family. He speaks of the good ole days with fondness. "The dollar went a lot further then, if you could get a dollar. You went to the store once a month, bought your flour and sugar. That was it. Always had a garden, hens and stock." But growth in the Fort Smith/Van Buren, Ark., area has brought many changes to local lifestyles, and the Bray family is making the adjustment. After the Highway 71 bypass changed traffic patterns, and their home burned four years ago, the Brays built a new home farther from the road on a rise that overlooks the creek and their cattle pastures.

Eddie Kinzer’s career in the Hereford business started in 1961 when he sold a pony that kept throwing him and bought his first Hereford heifer from Clint Waldon, a longtime Hereford breeder in northwest Arkansas. 

When I was a kid, nothing scared me more than tornados. And, unlike many childhood fears, I know the exact point that I became painfully fearful of the terrorizing twisters.