MOUNT GEORGE — Lawayne and Mary Louise Holt believe they have fulfilled their dream. They have been married 63 years and have developed a profitable farm, surrounded by streams, woodlands and wildlife preserves. But more importantly, they have passed along this farm to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Holts are the 2018 Yell County Farm Family of the Year. They raise hay, cattle and poultry.
“The main goal was, and is, to live a farm life, but most importantly [was] the need to provide the family with a secure place to be, work and live,” said Lawayne, 81.
“My biggest achievement is knowing that my heirs have land to work on and keep the family together in this wonderful place,” he said.
“Having land to provide my family with after our passing has been my ultimate achievement. I hope the kids and the grandkids will keep on farming. The Lord has been good to us,” Lawayne said.
“It hasn’t always been easy,” said Mary, 76.
“We’ve had a good life,” she said, smiling.
Lawayne said he and Mary were reluctant to accept the Farm Family of the Year honor at first.
“It’s something we’re not used to doing. … We’ve never had anything given to us,” he said. “We’ve just worked hard for all we have. We didn’t inherit nothing. We worked for everything we got.”
But once he thought about it and discussed it with his family, Lawayne agreed to accept the honor.
“It’s fine, now,” Lawayne said, laughing. “We do appreciate it. It’s just something different for us, to be recognized for what we do. We’re just not used to all the attention.”
Mary said farming all these years has been hard work.
“We’ve accumulated over 600 acres,” she said. “Raising chickens and cows just seems to work together.”
The Holts, who both celebrate a July 6 birthday, have four adult children — Larry Holt, 60; Michael Holt, 56; Lisa Merritt, 52; and James Holt, 46.
Larry and his wife, Kathleen, live in Mount George. They have two children: Phillip, 37, and Cassidy, 24. Phillip has three children: Chloee, 14, Haillee, 10, and Blakelee, 6.
Michael and his wife, Sherry, live in Ola. They have two sons: Richard, 37, and Jessie, 29. Richard is married to Brittany, and they have one son, Eli, 8. Jessie is married to Kim, and they have one daughter, McKensie, 4.
Lisa and her husband, Daniel Merritt, live in Mount George. They have three children: Shannon Rose, 37; Zoe Merritt, 19; and Rhett Merritt, 16. Shannon and her husband, Bandon Rose, have two children: Lexy, 17, and Zane, 13.
James, 46, and his wife, Trish, live in Mount George. They have four sons: Chris, 27; Travis, 25; Peyton, 23; and Devan, 17. Chris and his wife, Joyce, have a 3-year-old daughter, Annabelle. Travis and his wife, Savannah, have two daughters: Leslie, 5, and Lexi, 1. Peyton and his wife, Meredith, have no children. Devan lives at home and is still in high school. All the sons help on the farm, too.
Lawayne, who is called “Wayne” by some people, is a son of the late Gurnia and Anna Holt of Mount George. Lawayne attended Ola High School but quit when he was in the eighth grade.
“I had to help my dad. I started a canned-milk route when I was 15 because my dad couldn’t do it anymore,” Lawayne said.
“Then I fell in love [with Mary],” he said, smiling. “We got married in 1954. I was 17, and she was 13. We lived with my parents for six months. Then we moved across the road into a barn that we fixed up. Six months after we got married, I lost my dad.
“After dad died, I went to work at the sawmill,” Lawayne said. “I wasn’t even 18 years old. Then I went to work at Thomas V. Jones Lumber Yard in Dardanelle.
“I retired 16 years ago from the refrigeration department at Tyson Foods in Dardanelle,” Lawayne said. “I was 65 and worked there at night for 34 years.
“Mary ran the farm,” Lawayne said.
“The kids worked to help me,” Mary said.
“James graduated from high school and began working full time on the farm. He’s been here ever since,” she said.
“We built the chicken houses …, ” Lawayne said. “James and his wife take care of the chicken houses. Mary and I help.”
Mary said she and James take care of the chickens.
“His wife, Trish, has been a blessing,” Mary said. “We get the baby chicks when they are 1 day old and raise them to
9 pounds.”
They raise the poultry on 48 acres, using six houses to raise 110,000 birds per flock. They sell their poultry under agreement with Wayne Poultry in Danville.
“We started with AVI, then went with Tyson, and now we’re with Wayne’s. … We’ve been with Wayne’s 35 years,” Mary said.
Mary is a daughter of the late Sidney and Pearlie Jackson of Harkey Valley. Mary quit school when she was in the seventh grade to get married.
“I ran the farm after we got married,” she said, laughing. “I had my first baby when I was 16.”
Mary continues to keep the financial records for the farm.
The Holts raise commercial cattle on 577 acres of their land.
“We’re running about 350 to 375 head right now,” Lawayne said. “The pastures are pretty full of calves right now. We ain’t sold any yet. We mostly sell them at the Fort Smith livestock auction. They will send a truck down here and get them.”
The Holts bought their first 48 acres from his dad and started operating the two chicken houses that were on the land.
“One of the houses burned down,” he said. “This was our first major problem.
“We looked at each other, and it was clear that we had to get that chicken house up and running again,” he said. “We got with a bank and applied for a private loan, and we started our path … getting back on our feet again.”
Lawayne said the drought of the late 1980s also caused them problems.
“We had 50 head of cattle and had to buy hay from Muskogee, Oklahoma. We lost 11 animals to that drought. Farm Credit helped us out,” he said.
“Our main plan was to pay off each current project loan before moving onto the next project,” Lawayne said. “And with that, the plan was to buy as much land as we could
and get it paid off bit by bit.
“The children were the ones with the bulk of farming responsibilities. They all had recreational and/or sporting activities, and they also had their farming tasks to complete before dawn. Some of the kids addressed the poultry operation, some helped with the domestic chores, and some helped with the cattle operation. The bottom line is that each son and daughter worked in the family legacy of farming.”
The Holt family is active at Ard Church of Christ.
Lawayne and his sons are members of the Galla Rock Volunteer Fire Department at Dardanelle.