Last year’s Family of the Year was Jeremy and Magen Allen of Bismarck in Hot Spring County.
Arkansas, USA — Arkansas’ 2024 Farm Families of the Year have been announced. According to its website, every year since 1947, the Arkansas Farm Bureau has recognized “outstanding farm families throughout the state.”
Criteria for the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program include “production efficiency, energy and resource conservation, leadership in agricultural and community issues, home and farm improvements, and home and farm management,” according to the website.
The program aims to recognize farm families and the importance of agriculture in the community and state, while also disseminating information on farm improvement and home and farm management.
District agricultural families of the year 2024:
Eight families were named to the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year “representing a wide variety of Arkansas agriculture, the state’s largest industry,” the Arkansas Farm Bureau said. Below is a list of those families and their farming practices, according to the website.
- East Central District:
- North Central District:
- The Blankenship family of Melbourne (Izard County)
- 17 Year Old Farmers: David and Jennifer Blankenship
- The Blankenships grow hay and timber, and raise cattle, pigs and chickens on 435 acres.
- Northeast District:
- The Henderson Family of Manila (Mississippi County)
- 23 Year Old Farmers: Murray and Dee Henderson
- The Hendersons grow cotton, corn, soybeans and rice on 4,244 acres.
- Northwest District:
- The Walker Family of Prairie Grove (Washington County)
- 53 Year Old Farmers: Larry and Be-Ann Walker
- The Walkers grow corn, molasses and hay while raising cattle, horses and “three species of show animals.” on 1,661 acres.
- Southeast District:
- tTillar’s Day family (Desha County)
- 10-year-old farmers: Bradley and Allison Day
- The Days grow cotton, corn, soybeans and rice on 10,000 acres.
- Southwest District:
- The Bobo family of Hope (Hempstead County)
- Eight Year Old Farmers: Curtis and Melissa Bobo
- The Bobos raise livestock and poultry on 253 acres.
- West Central District:
- The Daniels Family of Amity (Clark County)
- 29 Year Old Farmers: Tim and Michelle Daniels
- The Daniels raise cattle and grow hay on 1,179 acres.
- Western District:
Last year’s Family of the Year was Jeremy and Magen Allen of Bismarck in Hot Spring County. The owners of JA Farms have been farming for 28 years and have four children.
“JA Farms is a diversified company that includes a feed business, trucking company and retail farm store in addition to livestock and hay operations,” Arkansas Farm Bureau said.
This year’s family will be announced in December during the Farm Family of the Year luncheon. The winning family will go on to represent the state at the Southeastern Expo Farmer of the Year event in Georgia.
Arkansas won Farmer of the Year in 2008, 2016 and 2023.
County Farm Families of the Year 2024
Here is the county’s 2024 list of farm families, according to the website.
- Arkansas, North: Dean and Katie Jo Price Farms PTN
- Arkansas, South: Jim and Heidi Craig
- Baxter: Ellie Lassiter
- Benton: Michael and Phillip Fletcher
- Boone: Billy Jack Burns
- Bradley: Nathan and Jodi Harrod
- Calhoun: Jeremy Martin
- Carroll: Tom and Neeley Butler
- Clark: Tim and Michelle Daniels
- Clay: Jeremy Wiedeman
- Cleburne: Eddie Whitehurst
- Cleveland: Jason and Ashley Boyd
- Conway: Correa and Leigh Ann Brents
- Craighead: Henry Dean and Jeff Finch
- Crawford: Jamie Marion
- Crittenden: Neal Williams
- Cross: Chris Wood
- Desha: Bradley Day
- Drawn: Jason Cater Family
- Faulkner: Raymond and Karen Kelly
- Fulton: Cline family and Ashley Hall
- Grant: Gator and Amber Denis
- Greene: Jeff and Linwood Wells
- Hempstead: Curtis and Melissa Bobo
- Hot Springs: Robert and Vikki Tankersley
- Howard: Billy Barton
- Independence: Danny and Cheryl Franks
- Izard: David Blakenship Family
- Johnson: Dylan and Allyson Jackson
- Lafayette: Stephen and Cindy Burton
- Lawrence: Adam and Chasity Wall
- Little River: Mark and Patty Welch
- Lonoke: Jordan and Mary Ellen Lynch
- Madison: Kenny and Rebecca Emitt family
- Marion: Creekbend Farms
- Mississippi: The Murray Henderson Family
- Monroe: Kortney and Megan Gray
- Nevada: Damon Williams
- Perry: Adam and Jill Blair
- Phillips: Neil and Blake Culp
- Polk: Tracy and Mary Standerfer
- Dad: Tony and Jennifer Haley
- Prairie: Stevie and Alison Kee
- Randolph: David Rawls
- San Francisco: Galen Geisler
- Sebastian: Joel Brent Cooper
- Sevier: Justin Craig
- Acute: Dennis Walling
- Stone: Thane and Ashley Huyard
- Van Buren: Stacy and Lisa Kirk
- Washington: Larry and Be-Ann Walker
- White: Dana Martin Stewart Family
- Woodruff: Mike and Sheila Milton
- Shout: Len and Melinda Cullins
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