Faulkner County recognizes family for farming operation

The Michael Dickey family of Greenbrier is the 2016 Faulkner County Farm Family of the Year. Family members are Madison, from left, Kim, Melanie and Michael Dickey. They raise cattle and sheep.
The Michael Dickey family of Greenbrier is the 2016 Faulkner County Farm Family of the Year. Family members are Madison, from left, Kim, Melanie and Michael Dickey. They raise cattle and sheep.

GREENBRIER — When Michael Dickey and his wife, Kim, started farming 16 years ago, they had 10 cows and a bull. Today, they have 60 head of crossbred cattle and about 100 Katahdin sheep and hope to add more in the coming years.

“We are growing,” Michael said. “Our farm is a work in progress.”

The Dickeys are the 2016 Faulkner County Farm Family of the Year. Michael, 47, and Kim, 49, have two daughters — Melanie, 19, and Madison, 14.

“We were pretty excited to be named Farm Family of the Year,” Michael said.

“We are very blessed by it,” Kim said. “We wondered if we would ever be selected.”

Michael said he, too, felt “blessed” by the honor, “but I also wondered how we ever got it,” he said with a laugh. “I asked, ‘Why us? What makes us stand out?’

“[The nominating committee] said it was our work ethic, our use of rotational grazing and the time we have committed to building the farm that made us stand out.”

The Dickeys, who both work off the farm as teachers, own 17 acres and lease an additional 357 acres. In addition to the cattle and sheep, they raise hay. They also have goats, chickens and rabbits, many of which have been part of 4-H projects undertaken by their daughters, Melanie, 19, and Madison, 14.

Michael, who roped and rodeoed when he was younger, also trains horses.

“I’ve trained horses for the past 30 years,” Michael said. “The training I offer ranges from preparing horses for team roping and calf roping to getting horses ready to be used for pleasure riding. The money earned from these services has been used to help pay for farm implements and the maintenance of our farm.”

Michael and Kim will have been married 22 years in August. They both come from farming backgrounds.

“When I was growing up on our farm, we readied bottle calves, and my father always had a few cow/calf pairs,” said Michael, who is the son of David and Linda Dickey of Greenbrier. Michael has one sister, Elisha Strick, also of Greenbrier.

“Kim’s parents row-cropped soybeans and cotton and then went to a cow/calf operation in the 1980s. Kim and I bought property that adjoined my parents’ land in 2000. We bought a few heifers and cow/calf pairs; my father-in-law gave me a couple of heifers. … That gave us a total of 10 cows and a bull,” Michael said.

“My father let me use his land to cut the cost of the operation. I retained my heifers and bought a few more pairs to increase the size of my herd,” Michael said. “The herd has continued to grow through the years, and I’ve leased additional land to accommodate it.”

Michael graduated from Greenbrier High School in 1987 and from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with an emphasis on special education. He is a special-education teacher at the Conway Human Development Center, where he has been employed for 20-plus years. He also taught in the Greenbrier School District for four years.

Kim grew up in Naylor, the daughter of Wayne Crawford and the late Melanie Crawford. Kim has one brother, Leslie Crawford of Naylor, and two sisters, Lisa Gray and Joy Scroggin, both of Conway.

Kim graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1985. She received a bachelor’s degree in health from UCA in 1992 and a master’s degree in health from UCA in 1996. She has taught science and health at Greenbrier Junior High School for 22 years.

“I grew up on a farm,” Kim said.

“My dad worked full time but farmed full time, too. He raised soybeans and cows. He said he was the last cotton farmer in Faulkner County,” she said.

“I picked a little bit of cotton,” she said with a smile.

Michael said the couple hope to increase the size of their farming operation in the future.

“We are still growing,” Michael said. “We hope to have 100 head of cows as our property and grass improve, and we hope to have 150 head of ewes (sheep).

“Our overall goal is to have a low-cost operation that improves production while being profitable.”

He said rotational grazing is one way to improve production of not only the livestock, but also the land.

“It optimizes the growth of vegetation in the pastures and has helped decrease soil erosion,” he said. “We have decreased the amount of fertilizer because of the distribution of manure on our fields as livestock (both cattle and sheep) are moved around.”

He said the couple have also installed water tanks, “which have kept the livestock out of creeks, thus protecting the water quality. Also, having multiple species grazing the pastures has helped control weeds and brush.”

Melanie and Madison help on the farm when needed. Both are, or have been, involved in 4-H activities, showing animals at the Faulkner County Fair or working on various community projects through the Cloverleaf 4-H Club. Kim and the girls also work on arts and crafts projects to enter at the fair.

Melanie graduated from Greenbrier High School and attends Profiles Enrichment Center in Conway, which is part of Independent Living Services Inc.

Madison attends Greenbrier Junior High School, where she plays soccer. She is active in FFA and competed on the poultry team this year. She wants to be a veterinarian.

“She’s a pretty good helper,” Michael said of Madison.

“He calls her first,” Kim said with a laugh.

The family attends Sharon Free Will Baptist Church, where Kim teaches Sunday School and leads singing. Michael has taught Sunday School in the past. Both of their daughters are involved in youth activities at the church.

When time allows, the family enjoys traveling and camping.

“We have been to almost all of the states,” Kim said. “We have a fifth-wheel [recreational vehicle] that we drag everywhere,” she said.

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