An accident in 1997 that might have ended Brian Stoltze’s dream of becoming a farmer may have slowed him down for a while but did not stop him.
While working as a lineman for an electric company, changing out old lines, he was electrocuted, resulting in the loss of his right arm and leg. For others, he said, that might have ended a dream.
“But I still wanted [to raise] cattle and to farm,” he said.
Today, Brian, 39; his wife, Brandy, 36; and their daughters — Kayden King, 12, Kameryn Stoltze, 3, and Kyleigh Stoltze, 2 — are living his dream. The Stoltzes are the 2016 Stone County Farm Family of the Year. They raise cattle and chickens on land that was homesteaded by his ancestors.
“I was kinda shocked when I learned we had been named Farm Family of the Year,” Brian said. “There are a lot more people who are more deserving. But I have been in it for a while; I’ve been farming for 18 years.”
Brandy added, “We appreciate it. It’s something we never were looking for.”
Brian said he spent 29 days in a burn unit in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following his accident.
“Then I had a physical therapist in Batesville, but I never went to any kind of rehabilitation hospital,” he said. He adapted his lifestyle and learned to live with his disability.
“With the help of family, friends and neighbors, I have been able to develop this farm to what we have today,” he said.
“We have had to learn ways to get things done, often thinking outside of the box and making things happen,” Brandy said.
The Stoltzes farm approximately 600 acres, most of which is leased land. He inherited 20 acres from his grandparents, the late Thadus Swafford and Cubie Welch Swafford, and has bought some additional land over the years and now owns 57 acres.
The Stoltzes raise 115 mature mixed cows with Simmental/Angus, two black Limousin, Charolais and Hereford bulls.
“I buy and sell cattle every year,” he said. “I am always trying to buy better stock. I’ve had cattle for almost 20 years. … I don’t know that I’ve ever kept a heifer. … I just buy and sell them, always trying to improve.”
The family, which operates four broiler houses with a capacity of five to six flocks per year of 128,000 chickens per flock, raise baby chicks to 6 pounds, producing approximately 4.3 million pounds of chickens per year for Ozark Mountain Poultry.
Approximately 400 acres of the operation is mixed grass pasture and hay ground. The Stoltzes bale approximately 700 to 1,000 bales a year, including some baled on other farms.
“We also bale hay for producers for shares and sell extra to help cover our baling expense,” Brian said.
In addition to farming, Brian also custom-spreads agriculture lime and fertilizer, as well as chicken litter, for customers.
Brian, the only child of David Stoltze and Donna Wilson, graduated from Concord High School in 1994. He said he went to Arkansas State University-
Beebe for a while, “but I wasn’t successful,” he said with a smile. “I always wanted to farm.
“I spent many hours in the shadow of my grandpa, Thadus Swafford, in the Ben community. Riding on a tractor fender and following him in the chicken house is where my love for farming began. I participated in 4-H, which strengthened my natural love for the outdoors.”
Brian said that when he graduated from high school, he began installing poultry equipment “until things slowed down in the mid-’90s.
“Then I went to work for Arkansas Electric, where I worked as a lineman until I had my accident,” he said.
Following his recovery, he began to trade cattle on a small scale as a hobby.
“My grandparents had passed away and left me 20 acres of their farm, but I didn’t have anything as far as equipment, land or money,” he said. “I started renting 160 acres in Cleburne County, and if I had grass, I would buy a few cows, clean them up and sell them.”
Brian then bought a spreader truck with an automatic transmission in 2003 and started spreading lime for the public.
“This, along with the cows, was able to sustain us financially until 2012, when our daughter, Kameryn, was born,” Brian said. “It was at this time we became interested in the broiler business becoming part of our farming operation. We were able to make that dream a reality after purchasing land in 2014 … and began growing for Ozark Mountain Poultry. It was also the same year we were given the opportunity to lease the original homestead place of my great-grandfather. … It was adjacent to our place, giving us the opportunity to once again expand our cattle herd. We have also been fortunate enough to lease 100 acres adjacent to our land.
“A lot of people look around and assume you have a lot, due solely on what they can see. … What cannot be seen is the blood, sweat, tears and financial hardships one goes through to be able to live this lifestyle.
“However, we couldn’t think of anything else we would rather do or raise our children doing. The life lessons learned on a farm are simple and unmatched anywhere else.”
He is grateful to his parents “for teaching me hard work and responsibility from a young age,” Brian said. “My dad is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen and still helps me anytime I ask to this day.”
Brian said many people have helped him over the years, “but most of all, I thank God for making it all possible.”
Brandy is the daughter of Barry and Denise “Deni” Foster of Rose Bud. Brandy graduated from Rose Bud High School in 1998.
“I’m still going to college,” she said with a laugh.
“I want to be a teacher. … I want to teach special education at an elementary school. I just go to college when I can,” she said, noting that she has attended ASU-Beebe and Ozarka College in Melbourne.
“I work right here on the farm, all day, every day,” Brandy said, noting that she comes from a farming background as well.
Brandy said her family’s farm started when her grandfather, Donald Lewis Foster, and grandmother, Barbara Reynolds Foster, moved to Joy in White County and purchased their first farm in 1970. They eventually moved to Romance, then to Rose Bud, and continued to grow their farming operation, which included Brandy’s parents.
“At the highest of our farming operation, we operated five layer houses with a combined total of 108,000 birds, 450 acres of owned land an 400 head of cows,” she said, noting that the final dispersal of Foster Farms came in 2007.
“Farming is not for everyone; that’s for sure,” Brandy said. “You have to be strong-willed and hard-headed. Luckily, I got a double dose, and so did my kids.”
Brandy said her grandparents now live in Searcy.
“Donald is now 85 years old, and Barbara is 77,” she said. “They are the most influential people in my life. They taught me about hard work, work ethic and the skills needed to do a job and do it well. They taught me how to eat and eat good. They taught me how to laugh and be laughed at. They taught me how to pick the best heifer in the pasture. They taught me how to love and be loved.”
Brandy said her parents have also been a big influence in her life.
“My dad has often said we all grew up together — parents and the kids,” she said, adding that she has two brothers, Dan Foster and Don Foster, who live in Rose Bud, and one sister, Angie Foster, who lives in Tumbling Shoals. “My parents have always been there for us, no matter what hardships we have faced.
“Most importantly, I would like to thank God for all the blessings he has given me and making it all possible.”
Although they stay busy with their farming operation, the Stoltzes are members of several organizations.
They belong to the Stone County Cattleman’s Association and the Arkansas Cattleman’s Association, as well as the Stone County Farm Bureau.
They are active with The CALL, an organization that works with the Christian community in providing support to foster families in the area.
They also raise foxhounds and, along with their daughter Kayden, are members of the Arkansas Dog Hunters Association.
Brian is a member of Arbanna Baptist Church in Mountain View, and Brandy is a member of Mount Bethel Free Will Baptist Church in Rose Bud, where she teaches Sunday School.
Kayden will be in the sixth grade this fall at Mountain View Middle School. She is a member of Stone County 4-H and shows pigs at the Stone County Fair. She is active in the Music Roots program at school, which is designed to teach students to play traditional folk instruments. She also plays softball and basketball.
Kameryn attends preschool in Mountain View and plays soccer and T-ball.
And Kyleigh, Brian said, “spends a lot of time in the chicken houses with Mom and Dad.”