QUITMAN — Eldon and Anne Fry of Quitman are cattle farmers. They have been recognized as the 2019 Cleburne County Farm Family of the Year.
“We are renters of ranch acres and owners of a home and 4 acres,” Eldon said, smiling. “We are a great example that owning property is not required to operate a farm or ranch.
“Since the conception of the Bar F Cattle Co. Inc. in 1999 and continuing with Fry’s East Fork Ranch, we have not owned more than 4 acres,” he said. “Finding property to rent is fairly easy in rural Arkansas if you have the desire and passion for farming or ranching. The keys are being honest and loyal to the landowner and being true and respectful of the land.
“I’ve been ranching for 40 years, and it’s been a great career for my family and a way of life I truly enjoy,” he said.
“I am very honored that we have been named Cleburne County Farm Family of the Year,” Eldon said. “We do work hard.”
Anne Fry said she is equally honored by the recognition.
“I think it’s kinda cool that we have been named Farm Family of the Year during a time that farming has become very popular again,” she said. “When I was growing up in Arkansas, farming and ranching seemed to be what the poor people did. We’ve come full circle. … Now everybody wants to farm. … Everybody wants to grow their own meat and vegetables. People are becoming more concerned about where their food comes from.”
Eldon, 66, was born in North Carolina, a son of the late Robert E. Fry and Doris Fry of Roxboro, North Carolina. He has one sister, Mary Katherine Gray, of Timberlake, North Carolina.
“My father was from Mount Vernon, and I always wanted to come back here,” he said, adding that his father left the area in 1944 when he went into the Army during World War II. Eldon said he would visit his grandparents in Mount Vernon as a child during summer vacations; he still has cousins in the area.
Anne, 61, is from Batesville, a daughter of Nancy Marshell of Batesville and the late Obria Hill and a stepdaughter of the late Brady Marshell. Anne has one brother, Joe Hill of Batesville.
“I’ve lived in Arkansas all my life,” she said.
The Frys met in Batesville.
“I came here to work for the United States Department of Agriculture in 1978,” he said. “We met in October 1978 and married in June 1979. We just recently celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.”
The Frys lived in Rose Bud from 1979 to 1986, then moved to Quitman.
The Frys have one son, Scott Fry, 36. He and his wife, Kayte, live in Holly Springs, North Carolina, with their young sons, Henry, 6, and Harrison, 3.
“Our grandsons have a love for the ranch from afar,” Eldon said. “They enjoy naming baby calves and love riding the ranch horses when visiting.”
Scott graduated from Quitman High School, where he was active in 4-H and FFA. He joined the FFA livestock judging team at 14 and remained on the team until his senior year, winning county, district and state honors, and finishing state as high-point individual. He was awarded a four-year scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, along with a place on the livestock judging team.
Scott was an active leader in the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity during his undergraduate years, graduating in the spring of 2005 from the U of A with honors in animal science. He continued his education at North Carolina State University, where he received a master’s degree in animal science and a doctorate in animal science/nutrition in 2010. He is director of technical sales support at Micronutrients USA LLC.
“Scott is a great example of hard work, strong work ethic and passion for the livestock industry,” Eldon said.
Kayte graduated from the U of A in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in education and from North Carolina State in 2008 with a master’s degree in higher-education administration. After a decade of working with college development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in Miami, Ohio, Kayte now works as a freelance stylist and the author of “southernfryedbliss,” sharing Southern hospitality and farm-to-table recipes.
“I moved to Arkansas when I landed a job with USDA APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), testing cattle for brucellosis,” Eldon said. “As ranch manager, I started working in the fall of 1979 for Caldwell Farms in Rose Bud. Then Anne and I moved to Quitman in 1986 to manage Arklan Inc. ranch operations.”
Eldon said Caldwell Farms and Arklan Inc. were both cow/calf operations with 1,500 cows each.
“In 1999, Arklan had a complete herd dispersal, with the owner retiring, after which we leased the entire ranch, starting our preconditioning business known as Bar F Cattle Inc.,” he said. “In December 2015, we purchased our seed heifers, and by August of 2018, we [quit] the preconditioning business to solely focus on our own cow/calf operation — Fry’s East Fork Cattle Co.”
At Fry’s East Fork Cattle Co., Eldon said, the goal has been to grow their cattle herd to 200 head through artificial insemination and proven genetics in bulls purchased.
“We have produced superior calves,” he said. “Starting in 2015 with 76 purchased heifers from one local ranch, we have grown to 121 [as of June].”
The Frys offer grass-fed/grain-finished freezer beef to select customers.
“We raise our own cattle, which are grass-fed,” he said. “Then we feed grain as a supplement to finish them out … to get the desired marbling that customers want. We do not give our cattle antibiotics. Our cattle are about as natural as you can get.
“We’ve been doing this for about 15 years,” he said, adding that the ranch’s beef is certified by the Beef Quality Assurance program. “We hope to continue to grow this business.
“We also hope to possibly market our bred heifers in the future.”
Eldon said the ranch raises the calves to 800 to 900 pounds for sale as feeder cattle.
“We retain the top heifers for placement in our cattle herd,” he said. “Steers are grown out on the ranch to supply our freezer-beef customers.”
Eldon and Ann also own and operate The Vintage Rose, a boutique gift shop, which was started by Anne in 1999. The shop began in a rental building in downtown Quitman before moving to its current location on Arkansas 25, also known as Heber Springs Road, in 2001.
“The Rose is quite happy in its 1867 farmhouse, which has been totally restored over the years and, we might say, is very well loved and visited by weekenders, as well as locals,” Eldon said.
The Frys are active in the community.
Eldon is a member of the Cleburne County Cattlemen’s Association, the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association and the Cleburne County Farm Bureau. He also serves on the Cleburne County Farm Service Agency Board of Directors.
Eldon and Anne are members of First United Methodist Church in Heber Springs.
They are supporters of The Other Side, Daughters of The Other Side and Breaking Bread ministries in Heber Springs, providing beef through their freezer-beef program as a protein source for the ministries’ resident kitchens. They also support Margie’s Haven House in Heber Springs and participate in the local food pantry by providing freezer beef as needed.
Through The Vintage Rose, the Frys support Christmas Gifts for Quitman Kids and the Backpack Program, with donations from their annual garden party in the spring and holiday open house in the fall.