‘Simple life’ earns family honor for farming

— Chris Simmons of Arkadelphia said he has always loved working on a farm, and his efforts have been rewarded.

He and his wife, Lesley, have been named the 2011 Clark County Farm Family of the Year. The family includes their 8-year-old son, Lane, and Chris’ parents, Bill and Lynn Simmons, also of Arkadelphia.

The family’s farming operation in Clark County is called CLS Farms. It is a partnership between Chris and his dad, Bill, and includes 4,000 acres of rented land. They raise 1,000 acres of rice, 1,500 acres of soybeans, 700 acres of corn and 800 acres of wheat. All of the land is irrigated except for 220 acres.

Born and raised in Jonesboro, Chris started farming after college with his dad and brother, Ryan, who still lives in Jonesboro.

“I have always been in a farm family and loved working on the land and seeing crops grow and produce,” Chris, 37, said. “Farming is a pretty simple life, a good life. We’re proud to be named Farm Family of the Year.”

“I definitely feel honored to be named Farm Family of the Year,” Lesley, 34, added, “but I don’t feel like we really deserve it.”

Also from Jonesboro and a graduate of Arkansas State University and Henderson State University with a master’s degree, Lesley teaches math at Gurdon High School.

Bill, 59, has been farming for 30 years, and Chris has farmed for 15 years. Bill’s parents, the late Byron and Mildred Simmons of Jonesboro, were also farmers. Bill is a crop duster, as is Ryan.

“It’s an honor to be named Farm Family of the Year,” Bill said. “It really is. It’s an honor for the entire community. I never expected to live down here. I came here when we bought the farm and loved it. I have no desire to go back to Jonesboro.

“Farming is a full-time job. We have three full-time employees and two who work part time.”

Lane helps his dad and granddad on the farm as well.

“He can operate anything on the farm,” Bill said with a laugh. “He’s our little farmer. If nothing happens, he’ll be the next one to own the farm.”

Chris said Lane “has been raised in a farming environment and is currently learning the details of farming and farming equipment. He knows more about farming equipment than most adults, and we continue to teach and stress to him the safety issues with the equipment, since he is around it all of the time.

“He attends school at Gurdon, and we plan to encourage him to get involved with FFA and 4-H as soon as he is old enough. We will also encourage him to seek a degree in agriculture and a profession where he will hopefully be able to make contributions to agricultural research and the agricultural community.”

Chris said CLS Farms’ goals for the future “are to increase production, be environmentally friendly and improve conservation from year to year. We would also like to improve efficiency and probability from year to year through new programs and technology.

“Plans are for future growth, as in any business. We plan to continue to add additional storage as we grow, additional leveling of land to improve research with the University of Arkansas and improve yields, and continue to improve irrigation efficiency.”

Chris said one of the biggest challenges for the farming operation is Clark County’s lack of services for agriculture, such as aerial application, fertilizer suppliers, parts, chemical suppliers and seed suppliers.

“We have to truck grain and soybeans 75 to 125 miles to market,” Chris said. “We have overcome these obstacles by supplying our own airplane and pilot, and our landowners have worked closely with us in adding additional grain bins for storage. We are able to send our own trucks to Little Rock to get fertilizer in bulk from our fertilizer suppliers.”

Both families attend Pine Street Church of Christ in Arkadelphia. Lesley teaches Sunday School. Lynn,57, who works in administration for the Dawson Education Cooperative in Arkadelphia and is a part-time bookkeeper for Shepherd Quick Stop in Arkadelphia, teaches the women’s class.

Chris is a member of the Clark County Farm Bureau Board of Directors.

Lesley is a member of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics and was an adviser for the National Honor Society.

Tri-Lakes, Pages 59 on 07/21/2011

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