Saline County Farm Family shows value of farming to daughters

— Farming is a family operation on the Elliott Farm outside Benton. Craig, 48, a third-generation farmer, and his wife, Gina, 46, along with their daughters, Mollie, 12; Melissa, 10; and Marilee, 8, are the 2010 Saline County Farm Family of the Year.

The Elliotts have a multifaceted operation. They farm 700 acres in partnership with his father. The farm includes 200 acres of hay. Some of the hay is sold, but most of it is used to maintain their 115 head of beef cattle, four head of show calves and four head of dairy cattle. They also have 25 hens, 25 pullets and five young roosters.

Craig was born on the farm, which was purchased approximately 100 years ago by his grandparents, the late Frank and Vesta Elliott. His parents, Thomas Frank and Phillis Jane Elliott, who live up the hill from Craig and his family, continued the farming tradition, and his father still has several acres planted in timber and continues to occasionally run a sawmill. Craig said his parents received the Farm Family honor several years ago with their row crops.

Gina is the daughter of Hugh and Doris Cruse of Benton.

Now, the Elliotts’ three daughters seem poised to become the fourth-generation stewards of the land.

“We’ve made a commitment to raise our children ourselves,” Craig said. “Kids these days are raised by society. Mom and Dad come home from work and shoo the children out of the way.

“It’s been a financial commitment, too,” Craig said. “I went to a job I didn’t like just to make money. I got tired of traveling with that job and decided to come back to the farm. Gina stays home most of thetime, too.”

In 2003, the family moved into the house where Craig grew up.

The Elliotts teach their daughters the value of living on a farm. The girls enter show calves, which their father gives them each year, in the Saline County Livestock Show. The calves are then sold at auction with the proceeds going into the girls’ college funds.

Mollie, Melissa and Marilee also participate in the 4-H Poultry Chain program, which allows them to sell pens of three pullets at the fair to support the program and keep the family, as well as neighbors, supplied in eggs. The girls also hunt and fish with their dad.

Craig sells the beef cattle at local sale barns, keeping approximately 16 heifers each year for replacement breeding stock. Bulls are rotated every two to three years. Their bulls include Black Angus, Hereford and Maine Anjou, and a Jersey bull is used for first-time breeding heifers. The dairy cows provide milk for the family, and the four pigs are raised and butchered each year for the family’s dinner table.

To supplement his farm income, Craig collects scrap metal and sells it.

“Much is used on the farm as recycled fencing, parts, storage and water troughs,” he said. “When prices are high, much of the unusable scrap is sold.

“Reduce, reuse and recycle are paramount on this operation. Old school buses serve as storage buildings for supplies and mechanical parts. Cast-iron bathtubs are used as water troughs, and fencing is often made of recycled pipe.”

Craig has a garden every year, and his mother handles the canning and preservation of all the produce. Craig’s sister, Kris Elliott, a family and consumer science agent with the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service in Arkadelphia, helps Mollie, Melissa and Marilee with their 4-H sewing, baking and craft projects at both the county fair and the Arkansas State Fair.

Gina, who taught biology this past year at Hot Springs High School, has helped her daughters with their Poultry Chain programs over the past several years. She also helps them create posters for the annual Farm Bureau contest.

Mollie, Melissa and Marilee attend Benton schools, where each is involved in a number of activities, including the gifted and talented program.

“We encourage the children to take advantage of all that comes along,” Gina said.

“We try to have family time as much as we can,” Gina said. “We go to church - First Baptist Church of Benton - as a family on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. And we try to have family meals regularly.” - crolf@arkansasonline.com

Tri-Lakes, Pages 131 on 06/27/2010

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