SHAKERTOWN COMMUNITY — Lynn and Debbie Pye have been recognized as the 2017 Clark County Farm Family of the Year. The Pyes raise hay, cows and produce on 388 acres in the Shakertown community outside Curtis.
Debbie sells fresh vegetables at the Clark County Farmers Market in Arkadelphia and the Hot Springs Historic Downtown Farmers Market, where she also sells homemade jams and jellies. Lynn works off the farm at the Walmart Supercenter in Arkadelphia to supplement their income.
“I was shocked when they told me we had been named Clark County Farm Family of the Year,” Lynn said. “I didn’t know someone who worked off the farm could receive this honor.”
Lynn has worked at Walmart for 22 years. He manages the automotive department. Debbie also worked at Walmart for several years.
The Pyes have been farming for 47 years.
“Mom was raised here on this farm,” said Lynn, a son of Marjorie Cagle Pye and the late Bill Pye and a grandson of the late Ernest and Lola Mae Cagle, who farmed the original land. Lynn has one sister, Melissa Faulkner, who lives in Gurdon.
Lynn grew up in Friendship and graduated from Ouachita High School. He attended Henderson State University for 1 1/2 years.
“Everybody in my family was a school teacher but me,” Lynn said, laughing.
“I wanted to be a farmer. Farming was in my blood. When I was about 4, my granddad had a tractor, and I used to sit on his lap while he drove it,” Lynn said.
“When I was old enough, I got to drive the tractor pulling the wagon that my grandpa and dad would load the hay on. During my junior and senior years in high school, I hauled hay in the summer to make my spending money for the year,” Lynn said.
“When I married my wife, Debbie, in 1978, we moved a trailer on her parents’ farm. In 1980, we borrowed money from Production Credit Farm Service and bought seven pairs [of cattle] and three heifers. My wife’s dad let us run our cows on his farm for two years,” Lynn said.
“In 1982, my grandpa let me rent 40 acres in his river-
bottom pastures. As he reduced his herd, he let me rent more of the land. When my grandpa passed away in 1996, I took over the whole farm,”
Lynn said.
“In February 1999, we bought the house and 1 1/2 acres from my grandmother,” he said. “Since that time, we have bought 79 acres of the farm. I rent 40 acres from my aunt, and the rest belongs to my mother.
“In 2014, we decided to start our own produce operation. We grow enough to eat and sell at farmers markets.”
Debbie is a daughter of
Barbara Ray and the late Willard Ray of the New DeRoche community in Hot Spring County. Debbie has one brother, Greg Ray of New DeRoche, and two sisters, Cindy Langley of New DeRoche and Karen Benit of Lafayette, Louisiana.
“Dad had cows and pigs,” Debbie said. “Then he started growing vegetables and went to farmers markets in Arkadelphia and Malvern.”
Debbie grew up in New DeRoche and graduated from Bismarck High School.
“Lynn and I met in high school,” Debbie said. “We were rival schools, especially in
basketball.”
Debbie attended Ouachita Vo-Tech [now College of the Ouachitas] in Malvern, where she graduated from the business program.
The Pyes hope to expand their farming operation.
“I hope to double the size of my herd in the next five years,” Lynn said, noting that he currently has one Red Angus bull, 28 cows and 18 calves.
“After I retire from Walmart, I want to be a full-time farmer,” he said, laughing. “Right now, farming is my second job.”
Debbie wants to expand the garden, too.
“We are looking into using wind tunnels to grow produce year-round,” Lynn said. “We would also like to add chickens to farm for egg production to sell at the farmers markets.”
The Pyes practice organic growing methods.
“We do not use pesticides on our garden vegetables,” he said. “We are going toward using more raised beds so that the soil is less disturbed.”
Debbie raises the normal varieties of vegetables —
cucumbers, okra, squash,
tomatoes and peppers, among others.
“We raised some gourds for the first time this year,” she said.
Lynn said his family “had a garden growing up, and I hated working in it.”
“Look where I am now,” he said, laughing. “I enjoy it.”
The Pyes have three adult children who help on the farm when needed.
The Pyes’ daughter, Mindy Burns, 36, is the lead teacher and supervisor at Gurdon Head Start. Her husband,
Jason, works with Union Pacific Railroad. Mindy’s oldest son, Cameron Mayhue, 20, is a junior at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, where he is majoring in middle school education and hopes to become a coach.
Her youngest son, Hunter Mayhue, 18, is a recent graduate of Gurdon High School and is a freshman at Henderson State, where he is studying computer science.
The Pyes’ older son, Jason Pye, 34, is an insurance adjuster with the Farm Bureau in Arkadelphia. His wife, Rachel, is the business officer manager at The Plaza at Twin Rivers, an assisted-
living facility in Arkadelphia. Their son, Kasey, 9, will be in the fourth grade at Peake Elementary School in Arkadelphia and plays tournament baseball with the 3-D Raptors of Arkadelphia. Jason and
Rachel are expecting another son in November.
The Pyes’ younger son, Robert “Bobby” Pye, 31, is the water/wastewater superintendent for the city of Sparkman. His wife, Alyssa, is a registered nurse in the surgery department at Baptist Heath Medical Center-Arkadelphia. They have one daughter, Penelope, 2.
When asked about hobbies, Lynn said, “We enjoy watching our grandsons play baseball.
“We also like to deer and duck hunt and go fishing on the pond with our family. We are also blessed to attend Beech Street Baptist Church [in Gurdon] with all three of our children and our grandchildren.”
Lynn serves as a deacon and an usher at church. He also sings in the choir and works in the church’s sound booth.
Debbie is director of the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) at Beech Street Baptist Church, where she is also a member of the ladies auxiliary. She is a member of the Friends of the Farmers Market in Hot Springs.
Lynn and Debbie are both members of the Clark County Cattlemen’s Association and the Clark County Farmers Market.