SILOAM SPRINGS -- Brent and Ronda Butler aren't just carrying on a family tradition with their farm near Siloam Springs, they're building a legacy for their children and grandchildren
The Butlers were honored Monday as the 2015 Benton County Farm Family of the Year. Jim Singleton, head of the Farm Bureau selection committee, said the couple and their three sons -- Dustin, Austin and Dillon -- and their families have an 825-acre poultry and beef operation on property they own or lease.
Agricultural Profile
Benton County is home to 2,157 farms, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, which put the land in the county dedicated to farming at 304,845 acres. Cash receipts and other income from farming was estimated at $462,803,000.
Source: Arkansas Farm Bureau
The farm has 275 head of cattle and sold 110 calves last year. The poultry operation has 37 broiler houses, Singleton said. The operation produces about 6.9 million birds a year, with annual sales of about 40 million pounds of poultry products. The broilers are marketed through a contract with Tyson Foods.
Benton County Judge Bob Clinard recognized the Butlers and their contribution to the agriculture industry in Arkansas. Statewide, he said, 22 percent of the state's residents support their families on income from jobs in agriculture and related areas. Farm production in Arkansas is valued at more than $8.3 billion annually.
The Farm Family program highlights a family operation using technology and best management practices to produce efficiently and conserve energy and resources.
"The Butler family serves to illustrate that cooperation and hard work are viable principles in maintaining the success of a family farm, while instilling responsibility and a strong work ethic in our youth, which are keys to the vitality of our rural communities, our county, our state and out nation," Clinard said in his proclamation.
Brent Butler said he's always been involved in farming and has never thought of doing anything else.
"My grandfather established this farm and my father still lives here," he said. "I think from the very beginning this was what I wanted to do. I don't think I've ever wanted anything different."
Technology has been the biggest single factor in changing the way the family farm operates, Brent Butler said. The broiler houses are automatically temperature-controlled to within a half of a degree of the optimum at any given time, he said.
"It's remarkable compared to even 15 years ago, and much more than it was 30 years ago," he said.
Ronda Butler became acquainted with the farm life while dating Brent in high school.
"A lot of what were supposed to be our first dates were spent working in the chicken houses or on equipment," he said.
Ronda Butler agreed technology and automation have changed the poultry business.
"There was no automation in any way," she said. "We had to hand feed the chickens and hand water them. We had to spread the bedding by hand and the curtains had to be lowered and raised throughout the day as the temperature changed. It was much more confining because you had to be there throughout the day."
Brent Butler said the family plans to expand its cattle operation within the next few years and will monitor the poultry business for opportunities to grow there.
"We'll be open to expansion if we have an opportunity and it works for us," he said. "We have to make sure we can manage what we have first."
NW News on 06/16/2015