Houston family honored for farming operation

The David “Butch” Hoyt family of Houston is the 2017 Perry County Farm Family of the Year. Family members include, from left, Kay Hoyt, holding 3-year-old Amelia Green; Debbie Green; Kyle Green, holding 5-year-old Lane Green; and David “Butch” Hoyt. Not shown is Eric Hoyt, who lives in Arlington, Texas. The family raises cattle and hay on 375 acres.
The David “Butch” Hoyt family of Houston is the 2017 Perry County Farm Family of the Year. Family members include, from left, Kay Hoyt, holding 3-year-old Amelia Green; Debbie Green; Kyle Green, holding 5-year-old Lane Green; and David “Butch” Hoyt. Not shown is Eric Hoyt, who lives in Arlington, Texas. The family raises cattle and hay on 375 acres.

HOUSTON — David “Butch” and Kay Hoyt are the 2017 Perry County Farm Family of the Year. They raise cattle and hay on their 375-acre farm, which they call the Circle B Ranch.

“We are honored and obviously pleased to have been named Perry County Farm Family of the Year,” Butch said. “We put a lot of time and effort into what we do. We are very pleased.”

Butch and Kay have two adult children.

Their son, Eric Hoyt, 35, lives in Arlington, Texas. He works for CAE (formerly known as Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd.), an international company that, among other things, maintains and installs flight simulators.

Their daughter, Jennifer Green, 33, and her husband, Kyle, live in Houston with their children, Lane, 5, and Amelia, 3. Jennifer is an instructional facilitator for the South Conway County School District; she previously taught biology at Morrilton High School.

The Hoyts were married in 1980.

“Kay and I met at a basketball game between Sacred Heart and Perryville and started dating,” Butch said, smiling.

Butch, 58, grew up in Oppelo, a son of the late Carl Henry Hoyt and Helen Clementine Zimmerman Hoyt Greeson. Butch’s siblings include Philip Hoyt, Robert Hoyt, William Hoyt, Jeanette Lentz, John Hoyt, Bernadette Leach, Rebecca Magie, Angela Wilson, Stephanie Wofford, Dorothy Greeson, Buddy Greeson and the late Richard Hoyt.

Butch graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Morrilton and served 20 years in the Air Force, retiring in 1998 at Sacramento, California. In addition to stateside duties, Butch was stationed in England, the Philippines and Germany.

While in the Air Force, Butch earned two college degrees — a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in 1994 from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1996 from the University of Maryland at College Park.

After the family moved back to Arkansas, Butch worked as an account executive at Acxiom Corp. in Conway from 1998 until 2016, when he retired to work full time on the farm.

Kay, 57, is a daughter of Orval Gene and Karen Brazil of Houston. She has one brother, Larry Brazil of Houston.

Kay graduated from Perryville High School and from the dental-hygiene program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Health Professions in Little Rock. She is a dental hygienist in Conway.

The Hoyts’ farm includes 100 acres of hay, which they use on the farm. They raise crossbred cattle in a cow/calf operation that includes 100 cows, 80 calves and three bulls.

The family also raises a garden.

“We can and freeze vegetables that are grown in the garden,” Butch said. “We have blackberries to make jams, jellies and cobblers. Occasionally, we also keep a calf and grow it out to butcher.”

The Hoyts started farming 18 years ago on 20 acres.

“When the farm first started, there was extra hay that was marketed and sold to local producers,” Butch said. “Since we’ve expanded our herd, all hay that is produced is used on the farm. All cattle records are kept on a spreadsheet, including birth dates, shot records and sale records. Cattle production is marketed through local sale barns, with the Ouachita Livestock Auction in Ola being the primary barn used.”

Kay’s parents gave the couple their first 20 acres to build a house on in 2000.

“This was just a few years after I retired from the Air Force,” Butch said. “In that same year, we bought five crossbred cows from my brother and ran them with Kay’s dad’s herd.

“Then three years later, when Orval Gene decided to get out of the cattle business, we bought 30 heifers and an additional 120 acres from him,” Butch said. “In 2016, Kay and her brother, Larry, jointly acquired the other 235 acres, which is all used in the farming operation.”

Butch said the Perry County Cooperative Extension Service office helped them with gardening information, soil testing, fertilizing, spraying and planting. He said the Natural Resources Conservation Service helped with ponds, fencing and drought recovery. The Farm Service Agency in Morrilton also helped with drought recovery in 2012.

“Our son-in-law and Kay’s brother are a significant help when we work cows,” he said. “They also help with the hay production.”

Butch’s goals are to “continue to upgrade the fence and facilities” and “exceed a 90 percent yield rate in calf production,” he said.

“We want to grow our farm. We plan to improve and finish cross-fencing and continue with herd improvement through retaining heifers,” Butch said. “We want to continue to improve weed control and use more winter annuals to assist with hay consumption.

“We plan to start a vegetable garden again next year, and we plan to build a hen house and purchase chickens for eggs.”

Butch said their grandchildren “enjoy checking the cows.”

“We have given them five heifers, designated with green ear tags, so they can raise and sell calves while being exposed to the operation of the farm and, hopefully, put some money in the bank along the way,” he said. “We are hoping this exposure will help them stay interested in the cows and the farm.”

The Hoyts are members of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Oppelo. Butch has been a member of the Parish Council, and Kay was a member of the Altar Society.

The Hoyts are also members of the Perry County Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and both attended the Arkansas Farm Bureau state convention in 2016.

Additionally, Butch is a member of the Perry County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and Kay is a member of the Perry County Garden Club and the Heritage Festival Committee.

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