GRUBBS — Kenny Clark, Jason Clark and Micahlene Clark Soden, operating as Clark Farms, have been recognized as the Jackson County Farm Family of the Year.
They raise rice, soybeans, wheat and milo.
Kenny, 66, and his wife Janet, 60, were married in 1974.
“Her folks farmed at Marked Tree,” Kenny said. “My cousin was married to her sister. They set us up on a blind date.
“Janet couldn’t see very well,” Kenny added, with a smile. “We’ve been married for 41 years.”
Kenny and Janet owned C&W Grocery Store in Grubbs from 1975 to 1981.
“Janet has always taken care of the books and paid the bills,” Kenny said. “She is the glue that holds our family together. She’s our prayer warrior. I wouldn’t have made it without her.”
Kenny said they agreed they wanted to raise their family on the farm.
Their son, Jason, 40, and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Katie, 9, and Courtney, 6.
Kenny and Janet’s daughter, Micahlene, 35, and her husband, Chad Soden, have two daughters, MacKenzie, 10, and Maddyx, 5.
Kenny, the son of the late Earl and Lena Clark, said farming was a “way of life” for him as he grew up.
“This is my home,” Kenny said. “I was born and raised here.
“We farm approximately 5,100 acres together, although we each farm under our own name. Some of the land has been in our family for over 100 years. We are the sixth-generation farmers.”
Kenny said agriculture was his favorite subject at Grubbs High School. He graduated in 1967, then attended Arkansas State University for two years.
He enlisted in the Air Force in 1969 and served in Thailand and Vietnam.
“I served by choice. I was a munitions-maintenance specialist; I loaded bombs onto airplanes,” he said.
“I’ve not had any bomb-loading jobs since,” he said with a smile.”
After returning to the United States, his father became ill, and Kenny received an honorable discharge. He came home to help his mother and sisters, who were still in school.
He had four sisters; three are still living. They are Colleen McCoy and her husband, Jerry, who live in Grubbs; Anita Davis and her husband, Tommy, who live in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Marquita Potter and her husband, Danny, who live in Midland, Texas.
At an early age, Jason started working with his father. When Jason was 18, he began renting land and buying equipment. After high school, he attended Arkansas State University part time, pursuing a degree in agriculture. In 1996, he married Lisa Best, who grew up on a farm south of Grubbs.
Micahlene became involved on the farm when she was 14. When she was in college, she worked part time on the farm and part time at the Jackson County Conservation district. She graduated from ASU in 2003 with a degree in agriculture-business and has been farming ever since. Micahlene married Chad Soden, who is from Tuckerman, in 1999.
Clark Farms employs five full-time employees and one part-time summer worker. Lisa’s dad, Donald Best, and her brother, Justin Best, also help out at harvest time. They have a crop consultant that scouts all of the acreage they farm.
“We have been successful by being conservative and working hard,” Kenny said. “We farm about 5,100 acres but only own 950 acres. We lease the rest. We farm for 25 landowners. We try to add some [new landowners] each year; we hope to pick up some this year.
“We try to be good stewards of the land. We keep good clean crops with high yields. If the landowners drive by, we want them to be proud; we farm for them.”
This is the third time the Clark family has received the county Farm Family of the Year honor.
“We were the Jackson County Farm Family of the Year in 1985 and in 2000.
Here we are being honored again in 2015,” Kenny said.
“It’s happened every 15 years,” he said with a laugh. “I will be 80 at the next one.
“I think this year’s title is more to honor the passing [of the farm’s management] to the next generation. It’s because of the good character of our offspring and their diligence to work and treat people as they want to be treated. Their mother and I did a good job of raising them.”
Jason said he is “honored to have been chosen Farm Family of the Year.
“There are a lot of good farmers in Jackson County. It’s an honor for us to have been chosen. I grew up farming; I’ve always done it. I remember riding in the combine when I was about 13. I remember watering the rice. I’ve been doing it ever since. It just gets busier and busier.”
Micahlene said she is also honored by the recognition.
“It’s nice to be honored for all the work we do,” she said. “I feel honored and very blessed.”
Kenny said Jason does most of the farm management now.
“He coordinates all the workforce,” Kenny said. “He makes the decisions in most everything.
“I attend the [Jackson County Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture] meetings and the [Jackson County] Farm Bureau meetings,” Kenny said, adding that he served as president in 1985 and 1986 and has been a member for 40 years. “I am on the nominating committee of the Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board as a Riceland Foods representative,” he said.
“I try to stay in touch. I feel agriculture needs a voice in the community. I was also an ex officio member of the Newport [Area] Chamber of Commerce,” Kenny said.
“It’s important to work with all of these organizations. Food is most important to the world. I’m concerned about the decline in farms,” he said. “Who’s going to work the farms in the future?
“Farming is important to the world. It’s who we are and what we do. We’re trying to help feed the world.”
When Kenny is not working on the farm, he said, he and Janet enjoy antiquing.
“We particularly like McCoy Pottery that was made in Ohio,” he said. “Antiquing is a good hobby.”
Kenny said he used to hunt but doesn’t anymore. The family leases 500 acres of farmland for duck hunting.
“Our goal is to make the habitat as environmentally friendly as possible,” he said. “We also have one duck house available for rent on our property.”
“Farming is such a demanding occupation that I actually look for a time to stay in the house,” he said.
Kenny said the family has faced its share of problems as farmers, from drought to floods.
“But anytime you can live where you were born and raised, and work with your children and grandchildren, it’s worth everything,” he said. “It’s very rewarding to see our son and daughter take over.
“Technology has been one of the biggest changes. I would never have dreamed of what we can do now [with computers and computerized equipment]. Our son and daughter have embraced it. I have learned to work the computer, but that’s about all. Technology has enhanced everything; it’s a good thing.”
Kenny and Janet are members of Ballews Chapel Free Will Baptist Church of Grubbs. She teaches Sunday School and is the assistant secretary of the memorial fund. She is also on the church nominating committee and sings solos regularly at church.
“Dad was a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Ballews Chapel,” Kenny said. “I’m doing the same thing.
“Janet and I also sing in a quartet — Ballews Chapel Quartet — with my sister, Colleen, and her husband, Jerry.”
Jason and Lisa are also members of Ballews Chapel Free Will Baptist Church. Lisa is the youth leader at the church. She is also the postmaster at Newark and has a women’s and girls’ clothing boutique — Too Blessed 2B Stressed — that she operates from their home. Lisa volunteers as a T-ball coach for the Tuckerman School District. She enjoys running and has run in several 5K races.
Katie plays 7- and 8-year-old pitch softball for the Tuckerman Bull Dogs. Courtney plays coach-pitch T-ball at Tuckerman.
Micahlene and Chad are members of the Maple Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Oil Trough. Chad has been coaching for 17 years. He currently coaches the seventh- through 12th-grade girls basketball team at Tuckerman. He also volunteers to coach MacKenzie’s school softball team and Tuckerman Aquasox, a traveling softball team.
Micahlene volunteers as an elementary intramural basketball coach at Tuckerman. She also enjoys running and has participated in many 5K races. She also assists with the annual Ag Day at Tuckerman Elementary School.
MacKenzie plays softball for the Tuckerman 9- and 10-year-old team. She also plays travel softball for the Aquasox and travel basketball for the Lady Dawgs.
Maddyx plays coach-pitch T-ball at Tuckerman.