Front Porch - Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018

Crowded Neighborhood Explosive NW Arkansas growth brings challenges for area farmers, ranchers

IN THIS ISSUE

Farm Bureau Matters

Randy Veach | Page 3

Helping Farmers, Helping You Warren Carter | Page 5

Porch Front

Crowded Corner

Rob Anderson | Page 6 Rural Road Stories Keith Sutton | Page 14

Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation Amanda Williams | Page 22

Member Services Update Autumn Wood | Page 28

Taste Arkansas

Keith Sutton | Page 30

Delta Child

Talya Tate Boerner | Page 36

ON THE COVER Cover design by Bryan Pistole Photo by Carlee Buckner

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Farm Bureau Matters

by Randy Veach | President, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

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was fortunate to sit down recently with veteran Arkansas journalist Steve Barnes as part of AETN’s Arkansas Week program to talk about the “perfect storm” of issues negatively affecting Arkansas agriculture.

In rather short order, we talked about our country’s recent tariff wars with China, remediation with and possible retaliation from our NAFTA trading partners Canada and Mexico, increasing interest rates, rising cost of fuel, declining commodity prices and the overarching benefits of the federal Farm Bill.

Barnes has been chasing news in Arkansas since the late 1960s, making him one of the most respected journalists within Arkansas. He also remains connected with a national audience through work published in the New York Times, fed to the Reuters news service and shown on networks ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and PBS. So, he clearly understands the impact of agriculture to Arkansas’ economy, and he was, frankly, astonished at the growing obstacles confronting today’s farmers and ranchers, calling it an “overflowing platter.”

Barnes made the concise point to the viewers of Arkansas Week that any negative impact on the farm economy has a corresponding impact on the state’s economy, given the fact that agriculture is the largest economic sector in Arkansas.

I was happy to oblige him in agreement.

With regard to foreign trade, agriculture is particularly sensitive. Stop for a moment and think about this; agriculture is the only sector of the U.S. economy that normally has a positive trade balance with international markets. We tout that statistic and take pride in our ability to produce more food than our country needs, because of God’s blessings through our abundance of natural resources. This allows us to sell products to other parts of the world. But the very thing we tout as a benefit makes agriculture the first point of attack when a trade war breaks

out. Those other countries want to hit us where it hurts, so they routinely make agriculture products a target in trade/ tariff standoffs such as we are currently encountering with China. To say this is an impactful issue for our farmers and ranchers is, indeed, a gross understatement.

The reverb from the negotiations currently ongoing with Canada and Mexico are felt with similar blunt force.

Canada, Mexico and China are our three largest trading partners for agricultural commodities. In fact, roughly 40 percent of Arkansas’ food commodities are traded with global partners, putting a significant portion of the revenue generated by agriculture at risk, particularly in light of the current uneasiness with our three largest ag trading partners.

All this foreboding news falls on the heels of net farm income dropping by 50 percent since 2013, meaning roughly half of the value of our agricultural economy in this country has been lost in the past five years, a sobering statistic that has led to the loss of many strong farm families. And you throw in the natural challenges with weather and pests, you see why agriculture has an “overflowing platter” of trials and tribulations.

After we wrapped up the conversation, Barnes says ‘let’s do this again,” alluding to needed discussion on immigration, nutrition programs, price support programs, et al. Barnes knows how deep and far reaching the implications of the business and political issues surrounding agriculture are and how meaningful those issues are for Arkansas. I responded that I would make myself available at any time.

God bless you and your families. God bless the farmers and ranchers. God bless Arkansas Farm Bureau.

With regard to foreign trade, agriculture is particularly sensitive.

Stop for a moment and think about this; agriculture is the only sector of the U.S. economy that normally has a positive trade balance with international markets.

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To watch the Arkansas Week June 29 segment with Steve Barnes, go to https://watch.aetn.org/video/arkansas week-june-29-2018-gctmsu/

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Porch Front

Official membership publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation mailed to more than 190,000 member-families.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Included in membership dues ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU OFFICERS:

President • Randy Veach, Manila Vice President • Rich Hillman, Carlisle Secretary/Treasurer • Joe Christian, Jonesboro Executive Vice President • Warren Carter, Little Rock DIRECTORS:

Jon Carroll, Moro Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart Sherry Felts, Joiner Mike Freeze, Little Rock Bruce Jackson, Lockesburg Tom Jones, Pottsville Terry Laster, Strong Jeremy Miller, Huntsville Gene Pharr, Lincoln Caleb Plyler, Hope Rusty Smith, Des Arc Joe Thrash, Houston Dan Wright, Waldron EX OFFICIO

Magen Allen, Bismarck Donna Bemis, Little Rock Adam Cloninger, Keo Mark Morgan, Clarksville Executive Editor • Steve Eddington Editor • Rob Anderson Contributing Writers • Ken Moore, Gregg Patterson, Maddison Stewart, Keith Sutton ADVERTISING

Contact David Brown at Publishing Concepts for advertising rates dbrown@pcipublishing.com (501) 221-9986 Fax (501) 225-3735 Front Porch (USPS 019-879) is published quarterly by the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation 10720 Kanis Rd., Little Rock, AR 72211 Periodicals Postage paid at Little Rock, AR POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rhonda Whitley at rhonda.whitley@arfb.com Front Porch • P.O. Box 31 • Little Rock, AR 72203 Please provide membership number Issue #108 Publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation reserves the right to accept or reject all advertising requests.

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Helping Farmers, Helping You

by Warren Carter | Executive Vice President, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

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employers and growing existing businesses that create hough there are still almost four months until good jobs throughout the state.

Arkansas voters go to the polls for the Nov. We believe passage of the amendment will lead to a 6 elections, the time to start thinking about better business climate and help generate more jobs because policy issues is now. Between August and November, Arkansas will be in a better position to compete with Arkansas Farm Bureau members will be taking part in surrounding states that have tort reform. As an example, our grassroots policy development process in meetings former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barber cited a letter from around the state, and will determine Farm Bureau’s Toyota that said the lack of tort reform in his state was the positions on various issues. reason Toyota wouldn’t locate its plant in Mississippi. After One issue that Farm Bureau members have chosen passing tort reform, Mississippi beat Arkansas for a Toyota to support in recent years is tort reform, because it is plant and its ancillary economic growth. important for economic development in our state. Tort Studies have shown that Arkansas reform – reform to the civil justice can have direct economic benefit of more system in Arkansas – will, in fact, be on Studies have shown than $316 million in economic stimulus the ballot in November, which means that Arkansas can have and creation of more than 23,000 new we have the opportunity for a very direct economic benefit jobs as a result of tort reform. real policy success. Arkansas Farm of more than $316 You, no doubt, will hear from the Bureau supports Issue 1, and believes trial attorneys opposed to Issue 1. all Arkansans should as well. Passage million in economic They will claim that it will restrict an of Issue 1 will bring about needed legal stimulus and creation individual’s right to just compensation reform in Arkansas, including a cap on of more than 23,000 in a lawsuit. Remember, these attorneys attorney contingency fees. new jobs as a result of are the ones who benefit the most from As a member of Arkansans for our current system who are arguing Jobs and Justice, a coalition promoting tort reform. against the passage of Issue 1.

Issue 1, we believe passage of this To be clear, under Issue 1, there will be no limit referred initiative will help put Arkansas businesses on a on what a plaintiff can recover from a defendant for level playing field with those in surrounding states, which economic damages such as lost wages, medical bills or loss all have limits on certain damages that can be awarded. of property. Those damages could run into the millions of We join the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the dollars. Additionally, Issue 1 will preserve the right to trial Arkansas Hospital Association, the Poultry Federation by jury and, as previously stated, will cap contingency fees and the Arkansas Trucking Association, among others, as at 331/3 of the net recovery. part of this coalition.

This lawsuit reform measure was referred to the voters Every state surrounding Arkansas has some sort by an overwhelming majority of the members of the of tort reform in place, and that puts Arkansas at a General Assembly in 2017 because they felt Arkansans disadvantage in competing with them for economic deserve the right to vote on another way to help our state development. be more competitive when we recruit doctors and when A recurring challenge for rural Arkansas is access to pursuing economic development projects. quality health care and an adequate supply of healthcare Arkansas Farm Bureau’s member-defined policy providers, long a focus for Arkansas Farm Bureau. supports tort reform and we believe Issue 1 offers critical, Arkansas ranks 46th in the United States for number of common-sense reform to a legal system that works against active physicians. The medical profession is among the both individuals and business. most targeted professions for litigation, increasing their To find out more information on this important issue, general cost of business. As a result, recruiting doctors visit www.YesOn1.com. We believe when you evaluate the to Arkansas – especially desperately needed specialists – legal environment in Arkansas, you will vote yes for Issue 1. is more difficult. The same is true for attracting new

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Does a Boom Mean Bust for Farmers in the Northwest Arkansas?

by Rob Anderson

Photos by Carlee Buckner

"Agriculture remains a key piece to the economic success to this region, and local, regional and state leaders understand its importance," – Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council

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ob Shofner gets a lot of phone calls these days – some are pleasant, some are angry; some are early and some come in the middle of the night; and sometimes they’re from law enforcement. It can get a little hectic, but he’s used to it now. It’s all part of farm life in the suburbs.

Shofner is a rancher with a cow-calf beef operation in Centerton, just west of Bentonville, and his home and farmland are almost completely surrounded by neighborhood developments.

“It’s just exploded. Never in our wildest imagination in the early 80s, would we have dreamed we’d be where we’re at today,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s a blessing and a curse. If you’re trying to do a farming operation, it’s not good. If you’re wanting to sell out, it’s fantastic.”

Shofner is addressing the unique facts of life for farmers in the Northwest corner of Arkansas, particularly in Benton and Washington Counties, two of the three most populous counties in the state.

Both counties have a rich history of agriculture. In fact, according to 2017 USDA statistics, Benton County is tops in the state for cattle/calves, and Washington isn’t far behind. Benton County is also first in the state for milk cows, laying hens and broiler chickens.

“We are still one of the highest-producing agriculture areas of the state, but we’re in this urban-rural interface now,” says Shofner. “We’re constantly dealing with the rural-urban issue.”

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A new Walmart warehouse is near completion on a hill not far from Susan and Ryan Anglin’s dairy farm outside of Bentonville. “It’s so close, you feel like you can reach out and touch it,” Anglin says.

“We’re just kind of in awe of it and how huge it is.”

Valuable Real Estate

Shofner has a very good understanding of the issue. Not only is he a farmer whose property is right in the path of major development, he serves on a regional planning board and works for Tyson Foods, one of the major employers in the area.

“I’m still sitting here kind of in an island on my own,” he explains. “I have a bigger farm over at Pea Ridge and I’m in the same shape there, with subdivisions on three sides.”

The most fundamental issue, Shofner says, is the growing price of land in the area and the impact that has on the economics of farming and planning for the future.

While owning valuable property can be a boon to farmers interested in retiring and getting out of agriculture, it complicates things for those still actively engaged in farming or planning to hand over farming and ranching operations to the next generation.

Shofner says he and other farmers realize they are “blessed” to be in an area where land values have gone up, but that they also feel “cursed” because “you can’t expand and pay for it with what you make from production agriculture.”

“It changes long-term views about what we’re going to do, particularly in terms of passing the farm down to the kids. You’ve got to weigh all the options,” he says. “When you compete against a developer for a piece of ground – if you’re still trying to farm it – the math just doesn’t work.

“If you’re doing farm-to-market or farmers’ markets, and that stuff, it’s great because you’re close to the access

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points. But, if it involves land for running cows or row crops or forestry, you might as well forget that in this part of the world.”

For some, he says, this means that thinking shifts from continuing farm operations to seeing the land as an investment to hold onto for a few years before selling at the best price.

Cassie Davis owns a dairy farm in Washington County with her husband, Scott, and she agrees with Shofner on the challenges created by growing demand for land.

“The biggest issue so far is land value,” she says. “I can’t possibly cash flow more farm land. It really kills the desire for expansion because it’s just not realistic.”

Generational farming, she says, is in danger in the area, as more and more choose to sell their land.

“As the urbanization is moving out, people are selling out because prices are good,” says Susan Anglin, who owns Anglin Dairy in Bentonville with her husband, Ryan. “Aging farmers are another part of the issue, because they aren’t being replaced. It was already hard for young farmers to get into the dairy business and with land so expensive, it’s even more challenging.”

Both Davis and Shofner point out that the land issues are just the beginning. Growth, they say, means more infrastructure needs, the potential of more regulation and more interaction with the non-farming public, which can be either positive and encouraging or a new source of stress in an already stressful field.

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Infrastructure Strain

According to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Northwest Arkansas, or the FayettevilleSpringdale-Rogers metropolitan area, grew 2.3 percent to a total population of 537,463 during the one-year period from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017. These Census population estimates, released in March, show that the area gained nearly 34 people per day after factoring in births, deaths and migration, during the one-year period. From 2013 to 2017, the population rose 9.1 percent, from 492,739.

For many farmers in the area, the signs of this population boom are most evident in the increased road traffic, which causes logistical problems for their daily operations.

“Traffic is huge. It’s not safe. We typically get on the highway to move (equipment and materials) from field to field,” explains Anglin. “Used to you could plan your times – early in the morning or late in the evening to move – but now there’s no good time. There’s always traffic.”

Anglin points out that the infrastructure for dairy operators has changed substantially in recent years, due in large part to the dwindling number of dairy farms in the area.

“In 1985, there over 300 dairies in Benton County alone. We are probably closer to 12 or so now, so it’s a big difference,” she says. “We used to have a lot of feed, service and support providers for dairy around here, but now we have to travel for parts, equipment and supplies.”

Nearby Fayetteville is the primary place Anglin and her husband travel for supplies, but this is no longer an easy errand.

“It’s not 10 minutes to town anymore. It’s 35-45 minutes or an hour just to get down there sometimes. If I’m going to Bentonville, I better allow 20 minutes to go six miles and that’s at a good time of day,” she says.

Inconvenience aside, Anglin believes safety is the real issue with the increasing number of cars on the road, and she points out that most are “driving way too fast and they have no regard for tractors.” Shofner, who was struck from behind by a truck while driving one of his tractors on a nearby highway a year ago, also believes traffic safety has become a major issue for local farmers and ranchers.

“If I hadn’t been in my big cab tractor – if I’d been in one of my little John Deere’s – I might not be around today,” he says. “When you’re moving farm equipment, you’re a lowspeed operation – you’re only doing 16-18 mph or so. And some of the roads are chancy – no shoulder, tight curves and things like that.”

Increased traffic is also a concern for Bill Haak, a former Arkansas Farm Family of the Year winner and another dairy operator in Benton County.

“You know, probably the most frustrating thing that I experience every day is when I go on these roads with my tractors,” says Haak, who also grows soybeans and has a sawdust and shavings business. “It used to be convenient for

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According to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Northwest Arkansas, or the Fayetteville-SpringdaleRogers metropolitan area, grew 2.3 percent to a total population of 537,463 during the one-year period from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017. These Census population estimates, released in March, show that the area gained nearly 34 people per day after factoring in births, deaths and migration, during the one-year period. From 2013 to 2017, the population rose 9.1 percent, from 492,739.

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me to take a tractor six miles down the road, but now you better do it about 6 in the morning or about 7 or 8 at night, because in the middle of the day, it’s a zoo.”

Haak recalls a time when he “had traffic backed up for seven miles going down this road” and he said to himself, “okay, it’s time to change my ways. This is not good for the community.”

The increased traffic leads to other problems for ranchers in the area. Car accidents near farming operations frequently lead to fence damage, which, in turn, leads to escaped animals and alarming phone calls.

“We’ve had issues where someone runs into fencing and they don’t call you. It’s the state police that call you in the middle of the night, because you never want cattle on the highway,” Anglin says. “And, if someone runs into a fence and get caught, they don’t fix it because they don’t know how, so that’s up to the landowner.”

Anglin adds that the damaged fencing means an additional cost for the farmer or rancher, as well as more road trips to get the materials for fence construction. Meanwhile, Shofner notes that fence damage sometimes comes from

other sources, like the development of new homes to house all of the new drivers in the area.

“We have a subdivision to the north of us and when they were building it and putting in electrical lines, some of the electrical guys decided they didn’t want the fence in the way and they tore out about 15-20 feet,” says Shofner. “I didn’t know anything about it until I got a call from the police saying, ‘We’ve got some cows up here on the highway and we think they may be yours.’ Then we had to go round them up.”

Like the area farmers, local business leaders recognize the infrastructure challenges a growing population and expanding development bring. Graham Cobb, president and CEO of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, says that the area has done a lot to try to “get out ahead of the growth by building the best infrastructure to handle it,” pointing out work completed on several of the county’s busy highways and street interchanges. He says he understands the concerns voiced by the farmers and ranchers and notes there are still a number of projects in the pipeline “in terms of preparation and adjustment for the growth.”

Bob Shofner points at a section of his land carved up by rushing water from frequent floods. “When they were building the subdivision, they stripped all the topsoil off around here, so now when we have a tenth or two-tenths of an inch of rain, all that water comes rushing on and we’re getting really washed out.” He says that heavy rains mean the loss of thousands of pounds of dirt and topsoil.

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Bill Haak stands in front of a sign for a new residential development overlooking the rear of his property. “I think my responsibility is and has always been to be sure I’m environmentally above scrutiny,” he says. “If anyone comes on my farm, they can see we’re not violating any laws and we’re doing it right.”

Being Neighborly

“I try to be a good neighbor, but when you come upon a stranger in your chicken houses you tend to get a little defensive,” Shofner says with a chuckle as he describes one of the challenges of owning open land and curious-looking buildings next to a growing residential neighborhood.

“Farms are open and people will just walk on in. They may come take pictures in front of the hay bales, or if they see a pasture, they think it’s for them to go explore,” he says. “I understand it, but it’s really about respect for private property and liability is also a concern.

“We have a lot of people who’ve moved in for Walmart support or Tyson or J.B. Hunt and other businesses – and a lot of these people are in this rural environment for the first time, so we constantly have to work on educating the public.”

Shofner, Haak and Anglin all have stories to relate about their interactions with new residents and the non-farming public, though Haak and Anglin point out that they are not as close to residential developments as Shofner. All agree that communicating about agriculture and modern farming practices is critical to building understanding.

“People are the biggest challenge,” Haak says of the area’s growth. “There’s lots of impatience and some people are far less cordial. There’s really a lack of comprehension of agriculture.”

Cassie Davis says many area farmers and ranchers have a constant fear of how new neighbors will react. “You don’t know who is moving in and you don’t always have a good chance to explain farming to people,” she says.

Anglin explains that the lack of understanding about

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agriculture is another reason she and other farmers receive so many phone calls.

“It’s mostly out of concern. People will see a cow that’s calving and they may call because they think they’re having a (health) problem,” she says. “In a nice way, we thank them for calling and tell them we’ll go and check, but that the animals are going to be okay.”

A piece of the Anglin’s property abuts a well-traveled roadway, and she says that in the spring, when cows are calving, newborn calves sometimes wiggle out under the fence. “You wouldn’t believe the number of calls we get. I told Ryan not to put any more calving cows over there,” she says.

Noise and smells are also an issue that brings phone calls or visits from new neighbors, meaning certain practices, such as burning off crops, are eliminated altogether by some farmers, while others, such as spreading manure or chicken litter, must be done judiciously or at different times.

Shofner notes the clamor from calves being weaned– the process of gradually withdrawing calves from their mother’s milk and moving them to a new food source – often leads to the phone ringing because some think the cows are in physical pain, when they are really calling out for their mothers. He was forced to give up two of the donkeys he used to protect his cattle from coyotes because the animals bray loudly when predators are near and this was bringing noise complaints from nearby residents.

“These are our customers, but they need to understand our modern agriculture practices. They just don’t have any farm connection and haven’t had classroom instruction about agriculture,” Shofner says.

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A view of the neighborhood across the street from Bob Shofner's farm property in Centerton, as seen from inside an unused chicken house.

The houses came from Shofner's father-in-law's farm after it was sold.

Future Questions

Despite the challenges they have faced, Shofner and Anglin say they appreciate the importance of the region’s impressive economic development and the population growth that accompanies it. In addition, they acknowledge that they have had largely good experiences working with local governments and have often taken on leadership roles when possible.

“I think Farm Bureau in Benton County has a good working relationship with county government,” says Anglin, who serves on the Benton County Quorum Court.

Haak concurs, saying, “My experiences with our city police officers and county representative have mostly been very good and cordial. I know all the police officers around here. They’re very good people and I think the world of them.

They’re very farm friendly.”

“Our county Farm Bureau is pretty active – we do ‘meet the candidates’ events and host legislative appreciation and quorum court meetings,” adds Shofner, though he says he and other farmers in the area remain vigilant about issues such as annexing, zoning, taxes and property rights. Annexing he says, is a concern to many because “taxes go up when you are inside the city, but your income from production agriculture does not.” In addition, becoming a part of a city means more regulations that could make activities like adding a new building to your property more complicated.

Despite the ongoing concerns, local economic development and community organizations appear ready to work or continue to work with the region’s farmers and ranchers.

“Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, and it is likely that ongoing population and nonagricultural economic growth will continue moving into to

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rural area, traditionally reserved for agriculture,” says Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “Agriculture remains a key piece to the economic success to this region, and local, regional and state leaders understand its importance.

“This understanding and appreciation should ensure that effective policies are put in place that promote continued economic growth to benefit all area residents while preserving our historic agricultural focus.”

The Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Cobb sees an opening for his organization to facilitate conversations and meetings between those in agriculture and the general population and to help educate new residents on farming practices. He says he also believes that the skills and knowledge of some of the area’s new residents can ultimately be beneficial to the region’s farming and ranching population. “As you develop and attract tech talent for the bigger businesses, you explore how some of this talent can help farmers and other traditional businesses become more profitable or more efficient.”

Still, some local farmers have doubts about how well their voices will be heard in the future and concerns about the community as a whole.

“We (farmers) are such a small part of the population, it’s hard to find representatives to speak up for us or look out for us. It can be hard to get a farmer elected,” says Cassie Davis.

“I moved here for the quality of life,” says Haak.

“Hopefully we can leave an inheritance for our children and grandchildren and hopefully – Lord willing – where they can find the next place that is like this was in the 70s and 80s.

Nothing is for sure, though.”

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Honoring a Legendary Cow

by Keith Sutton

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n a recent visit to Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, I happened to walk through the college’s Agriculture Center and something caught my eye. It was a display in the main hallway featuring two oldfashioned glass milk bottles behind a large twohandled trophy cup fashioned from glistening silver.

Inlaid in the side of the cup was a gold medallion with the image of a cow. Surrounding the cow were the words “OMNIS PECUNIAE PECUS FUNDAMENTUM,” the motto of the American Jersey Cattle Club (now Association).

Translated from Latin by Thomas Hand, the first treasurer of the organization, the phrase means, “The herd is the foundation of all wealth.”

Words engraved on the silver cup indicated that the trophy was the President’s Trophy presented by the AJCC. The inscription said:

This display in Southern Arkansas University’s Agriculture Center features the trophy cup presented to champion Jersey cow Magnolia Belle in 1937.

Photo by Keith Sutton

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AWARDED TO SULTANE’S MAGNOLIA BELLE 665741 RECORD: 14247 LBS. MILK 1043.01 LBS. BUTTERFAT IN 365 DAYS AT 10 YEARS OF AGE, CLASS AA TEST ENDED: SEPTEMBER 25TH 1936 OWNER: STATE AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE MAGNOLIA, ARKANSAS

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My interest was piqued. What made the story of this cow so important that the university had created this prominent exhibit? It’s not every day you see a bovine honored in such a fashion, even in an agriculture facility. I wanted to know more and started digging to see what I could uncover.

To truly understand the story of Belle the cow, one first needs to know a few things about the history of the university. The school’s first term began Jan. 11, 1911, with 75 students and five teachers. At the time, it wasn’t yet a college. It was the Third District Agricultural School, a vocational high school where agriculture and home economics dominated the curriculum.

The school’s agricultural roots were also evident in its one-of-a-kind mascot, the Mulerider, adopted in 1912 when many of its football players rode mules – then ubiquitous and essential to Southern agriculture – to nearby McNeil in order to catch the Cotton Belt train to away games.

The school’s name changed in the mid-1920s when it was elevated to junior college status. It was officially named State Agricultural and Mechanical College, Third District, but was more commonly referred to as Magnolia A&M. Its agricultural and home economics emphasis remained.

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During the 1930s, a prize-winning herd of dairy cattle created by agriculture instructor Ves Godley brought national attention to the college. It started with a Jersey bull Godley purchased at the Tri-State Fair in Memphis and grew to 64 registered Jerseys and seven registered Holsteins. Among these animals were four national production champions and Arkansas’ first superior sire.

One of the Jersey cows was the state’s sole entry and one of only 30 nationally to appear in the Borden milk company’s Dairy of Tomorrow exhibit hall at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Nationwide attention came to the Magnolia A&M College campus on Feb. 11, 1937 when Sultane’s Magnolia Belle was crowned National Champion Jersey Milk Cow. Shown in this photo are Belle and her male calf, flanked by three local men who played key roles in helping set a 365-day record of 14,247 pounds of milk and 1,043 pounds of butterfat. The men are (left to right) Melbourn Walthall, who milked Belle three times a day for 365 days; Paul Jetton, who was in charge of the college dairy herd; and Ves Godley, head of the animal husbandry department, who supervised the setting of the national record.

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Dr. James F. Willis, in “Southern Arkansas University: The Mulerider School’s Centennial History, 1909-2009,” wrote at length about Belle, the best of these animals.

“The high point of Godley’s efforts produced a national championship cow, Sultane’s Magnolia Belle,” he said. “Early failures preceded his triumph, but Godley persisted. He began testing selected cows in 1933 using the American Jersey Cattle Club’s standards. Year after year, his cows came agonizingly close to a gold medal, Magnolia Belle missing the mark one year by only five pounds of annual production

“On one occasion during 1936’s record-setting summer temperatures, Godley moved his wife’s new electric fan from her hot kitchen to the barn to cool the cow,” he said.

“To avoid any upset of Magnolia Belle, only Melbourn Walthall, college dairyman, milked the cow. He did so three times per day for 365 days of the testing period in 1936.”

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Magnolia A&M agriculture instructor Ves Godley led efforts to create the college’s herd of award-winning dairy cows.

of milk and butterfat. In reaching his goal in 1936, Godley pampered Magnolia Belle so much his wife joked that he loved that cow more than her.”

According to Willis, the Godleys lived in a faculty house near the dairy barn, which made it easy for him to check on Belle day and night.

“On one occasion during 1936’s record-setting summer temperatures, Godley moved his wife’s new electric fan from her hot kitchen to the barn to cool the cow,” he said.

“To avoid any upset of Magnolia Belle, only Melbourn Walthall, college dairyman, milked the cow. He did so three times per day for 365 days of the testing period in 1936.”

All the attention given to the cow paid off. That year Belle produced 14,247 pounds (about 1,657 gallons) of milk and 1,043 pounds of butterfat, at the time a national record.

“A grand celebration took place at the National Guard Armory on February 11, 1937, when New York representatives of the American Jersey Cattle Club came to present awards,” Willis wrote. Prominent among these was the trophy cup now on display in the university’s Agriculture Center.

“Two hundred visitors from across the nation gathered at the special student assembly as Magnolia Belle was led onto the armory’s stage,” Willis continued. “The college band serenaded her with a special musical score, ‘Belle’s Triumphal March,’ composed by band director James ‘Jimmie’ E. Justiss for the occasion.”

Some might think that having an award-winning cow is not that big of a deal. But the things Godley achieved with Belle helped bring improvements to the farm, encouraged the county’s farmers and reinvigorated the school’s agricultural program, with a big upsurge in the number of agriculture majors. Godley led citizens in 1938 in reviving an annual Columbia County Fair and Livestock Show that had lapsed for more than a decade. He also helped establish a dairy improvement association.

In 1938, Belle got a new home — an innovative dairy barn with a special enclosure for the cow so visitors could easily see her from the road. There was also a new refrigeration and pasteurizing plant to ensure safe milk for the college dining hall and area customers. Students consumed 70 to 100 gallons of milk daily, all provided by cows that students milked twice a day.

For entertainment, agriculture majors who milked the cows installed a radio in the barn, vowing that nightly

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broadcasts increased milk production, especially on evenings when NBC featured famous Arkansas comedian Bob Burns playing his homemade instrument called a “bazooka.” Their stories, like much of Burns’ hillbilly humor, were probably aimed at fooling gullible city slickers.

In 2013, SAU administrators decided it was time to sell its dairy herd and focus instead on beef cattle.

“It was to the point where we had to decide whether to reinvest a lot of money into a whole new facility or shut it down,” said Rusty Hayes, director of Farm Operations.

“One of the main issues was lack of student interest. None of them wanted to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and come back at 4:30 p.m. to milk.”

And so, in the spring of that year, the last milk was collected, the dairy cows were sold, and money from the sales was reallocated to other farm operations. Thanks to that lone exhibit in the hallway of the Agriculture Center, however, those who attend or visit the university will not forget about Sultane’s Magnolia Belle and the national fame she helped bring to the school’s agricultural program.

The medallion of the American Jersey Cattle Club, which is on Magnolia Belle’s trophy, features the organization’s motto, “Omnis pecuniae pecus fundamentum,” Latin for “The herd is the foundation of all wealth.”

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Arkansas Farm Bureau FOUNDATION

by Amanda Williams, Education and Foundation Coordinator, Arkansas Farm Bureau

T

he Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation was launched in early 2017, as the fund raising arm of the Arkansas Farm Bureau (ArFB). The mission of the foundation is to further understanding of agriculture and rural issues and provide financial support for agriculture education, research, litigation and disaster relief. Critical educational programs such as M*A*S*H – the Medical Applications of Science in Health program for students interested in medical careers – and Ag in the Classroom fall under the ArFB Foundation and rely on its support.

Since its inception, the ArFB Foundation has donated $40,000 in disaster relief and awarded more than $25,000 in grants.

Grants have been awarded for a variety of projects, including the creation of traveling “Book Barns” that will house agriculture-related books and travel to schools throughout the counties they serve. Another grant was awarded to assist with funding the development, installation and maintenance of a demonstration garden on the 4-H Center’s property in Ferndale. The Four State Fair Ag Learning Center in Texarkana also received a grant to assist with funding to provide agriculture education materials and resources.

Fundraising is key to the success of the ArFB Foundation. Without fundraising events and outreach, ArFB wouldn’t be able to help get these exciting agriculture education projects off the ground, so three unique fundraising events were scheduled for 2018.

In May, the ArFB Foundation held its inaugural Trap Shoot at the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex in Jacksonville. Prizes were awarded to the top three teams and to the top shooter, with 12 teams competing for the prizes. The Ashley County Bullseye Bandits was the winning team with a score of 229 out of 22

a possible 250. The top shooter award went to Dylan Watters of Springfield, with a perfect score of 50. Plans are already underway for another fundraising shoot next year.

At our July Officers and Leaders Conference, ArFB will debut the ArFB Foundation Christmas Ornament. The ornament will be available for purchase at the ArFB Foundation booth at the conference and for online purchasing starting July 23.

On Aug. 10, the ArFB Foundation will be presenting the inaugural Central Arkansas Midnight Madness Swine Show. This will be a breed show, with $1,000 awarded for grand prize and $500 for reserve champion. Entry fees are $30 for the first hog, $10 for each additional hog, and $10 for showmanship. For more information about the show and list of the rules, please visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ arfarmbureaufoundation and click on the Events section.

Donations are also critical to the growth and continued success of the ArFB Foundation, whether they be from outside organizations, county Farm Bureaus or individual donors. There are many ways to contribute to the Foundation, whether through sponsoring one of our fundraising events or by direct donations. We have recently added the option for online giving to make the donation process more convenient. Just visit our website at http:// www.arfb.com/pages/foundation/, and select Donate. You will be able to choose One-time or Recurring Gift or select a Memorial or Honorarium Donation. Check donations may be mailed to: ArFB Foundation, P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203, Attn: Amanda Williams.

All monetary donations are tax deductible, and an end-of-year giving receipt will be issued to each donor no later than Jan. 31, 2019.

Stay up-to-date on the ArFB Foundation, by following us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ arfarmbureaufoundation, or by visiting the website http://www.arfb.com/pages/foundation/. Also, if you are an Amazon customer, a donation will be made by AmazonSmile for each qualifying purchase. For more details, visit our website and click on the AmazonSmile logo to select ArFB Foundation as your charity of choice.

You may visit your county Farm Bureau office for a grant application as well as a list of the grant restrictions and evaluation criteria.

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TASTE ARKANSAS

Versatile Farm-Raised Catfish

By Keith “Catfish” Sutton Photos by Keith Sutton

E

ach August since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan first declared it as such, the nation breaks out its skillets and deep fryers to celebrate National Catfish Month. There’s plenty of reason to celebrate, too, particularly here in Arkansas, one of three states – along with Mississippi and Alabama – that are home to the majority of the nation’s catfish farms.

Those who’ve eaten the catfish fillets and steaks produced on those farms would likely agree that there’s no tastier way to prepare channel catfish than

dredging it in seasoned cornmeal and frying it up crisp and golden. Catfish is quite versatile, however, and lends itself well to a wide variety of cooking methods and recipes.

If, like many Arkansans, you eat a lot of catfish (for both its good taste and healthful benefits), you’ll welcome some additional methods of preparation that make the most of the catfish’s white flaky flesh. Here are three interesting ways you can prepare farm-raised catfish that are sure to draw rave reviews from family and friends:

CATFISH CAKES • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil • 1/4 cup chopped celery • 1/4 cup chopped onion • 1 pound catfish fillets, cooked, flaked • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise • 1 egg, slightly beaten • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley • 1 teaspoon lemon juice • Dash of hot pepper sauce • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 3/4 cup Ritz cracker crumbs • 3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Despite what some folks think, frying isn’t the only way to cook farm-raised catfish. Making delicious fish cakes like these is just one more way to enjoy their mild flavor.

Sauté onions and celery in the oil until tender. Transfer to a bowl, and mix with fish and all other ingredients except the cracker crumbs.

Form into 6 to 8 patties, and dredge in cracker crumbs. Brown in a skillet with hot butter or margarine.

Serves 6 to 8.

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GRILLED CATFISH • 11/2 pounds catfish fillets • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce • 2 tablespoons lemon juice • 1 clove garlic, crushed • 1/2 teaspoon paprika • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper Combine Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, paprika and pepper, and pour over catfish fillets placed in a single layer in a large baking dish. Marinate in the refrigerator for two hours.

Transfer catfish to a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold up the sides to form a rim.

Pour the marinade over the catfish. Grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until catfish flakes easily when tested with a fork at the thickest part. Serves 2 to 3.

Grilling is a simple yet scrumptious method for bringing the best flavor out of a plump catfish fillet.

DIXIE CATFISH CHOWDER

Do you like clam chowder? You’re likely to enjoy chowder prepared with farm-raised Arkansas catfish just as much.

• 1/2 cup chopped onion • 2 tablespoons bacon grease • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper • 2 cups uncooked, diced, peeled potatoes • 1 cup boiling water • 1 pound catfish fillets (or other whitefish), cut in bite-sized pieces • 1 cup milk • 1 cup half-and-half • 1 small (8.25-ounce) can of cream-style corn • Bacon bits (optional) In a cooking pot, sauté the onion in bacon grease until soft. Add salt, pepper, potatoes, water and fish.

Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add milk and corn. Heat thoroughly, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with bacon bits on top if desired. Serves: 4-6.

For more recipes and farm-to-table features, visit TasteArkansas.com.

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DELTA CHILD In Delta Child, author Talya Tate Boerner draws on her Mississippi County childhood to deliver readers back to a simpler time when screen doors slammed, kids tromped cotton, and Momma baked cornbread for supper every night. Boerner, a fourth-generation Arkansas farm girl, has been published in "Arkansas Review," "Deep South Magazine," and "Delta Crossroads." Her award-winning debut novel, "The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee," is also set in northeast Arkansas. Follow her blog "Grace Grits and Gardening" (www.gracegritsgarden.com) for more tales of Arkansas farming, gardening, and comfort food.

by Talya Tate Boerner

A Summer Funeral

F

rom the pulpit, the preacher read scripture. His owl-like eyes swept across the mourners, then paused on the casket at center aisle. “In my house, there are many rooms.” He quoted in a hypnotic voice and lifted his Bible like an offering to the heavens.

I had the urge to raise my hand and ask, “How many rooms?” but I didn’t because church was not school. Church was the place for believing with your heart not questioning with your brain.

Eight glass light fixtures, the color of watered-down milk, hung from the ceiling. Evenly spaced, they cast circles in the air like ripples in water. I counted them again.

I’d never been to a funeral before.

On Thursday night while I slept, my cousin had died in a car wreck on the interstate near Burdette. He had driven through the guardrail and crashed into a concrete culvert. At breakfast the next morning, Momma said tearfully, “He fell asleep driving.”

Then she shook her head and said, “Nothing good ever happens after midnight.”

I watched as Daddy poured coffee in his thermos. He looked as gloomy as I’d ever seen him. My whole life, Daddy had always said life wasn’t fair. Now, I knew it was true. How could something so horrible happen with no warning beyond a shrill phone call at daybreak?

The preacher’s droning prayer competed with the hum of the window box blowing cold air from the back of the church. A lady sang Amazing Grace in a voice as clear as tap water. Afterward, my uncles and cousins carried Freddie’s casket through the church doors and into the blinding sunshine. We fell in line with the crowd, a sad clutch of dark-clothed people playing what felt like a perverse game of “Follow the Leader.” I stared at my feet because I no longer knew what to do with my eyes.

Only two months before, just after Easter, Freddie had climbed the tallest cliff at Lake Norfork and dove in without giving it a second thought. The water had been icy cold. Too cold for regular people.

No more cliff dives for him.

No more jokes perfectly timed and delivered with a twist.

No more contagious belly laughs.

He had excelled at all those things.

We reached the far corner of the cemetery and crowded into

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a semi-circle. I waited for the preacher to say something wise, something to help me make sense of my cousin’s untimely death.

But he never did.

As Freddie’s polished casket, sleek as a race car, was lowered into the Delta soil, chill bumps broke out across my arms. All around, tombstones marked the earth. Cotton fields spread dry and thirsty.

Beyond the fields, the hot horizon dipped low toward tomorrow.

Later, funeral-goers swarmed my aunt’s rambling house.

A feast lined her linoleum countertop – platters of cold fried chicken, potato salad heavy with mayonnaise, green bean casserole sprinkled with crispy onions. There were pies of every sort, some with lattice-topped crust and others piled high with meringue. Everyone chatted and balanced plates while drinking coffee in Styrofoam cups.

“Is this a funeral party?” I whispered to Momma. As far as I could tell, the time had come to be less sad and a smidge relieved. I felt nothing of the sort.

“It’s the only thing we know to do,” she explained. “We southern women cook through our grief.”

A man I didn’t know pushed through the screen door carrying a green Jell-O salad and wearing a pained look on his face. He thrust it out to Momma even though it wasn’t her house.

“Edith said to bring this to you. And we’re sorry for your loss.”

Momma nodded and gave him a weak smile that didn’t touch her blue eyes.

“Find a place for this on the dining room table,” Momma said as she passed the cold dish to me. I gripped it tight because I could tell the whole thing was slippery from inside out. It looked fake, that green Jell-O, and inside bits of pineapple wiggled, oddly suspended, the same way I had felt earlier at the cemetery.

Freddie wouldn’t have eaten this in a million years, I thought as I set the dish beside a platter of lunch meat, each piece of ham and turkey rolled tight as cigars.

When I turned to walk back to the kitchen, I heard someone say, “He’s in a better place.” That’s what all the old ladies said as they whispered in soothing voices that didn’t sooth. I wanted to scream or to cry or to say one of the bad words I’d been saving up for just the right time. But I didn’t. Instead, I whispered the only thing I knew to be true. “Freddie was too good for this place.”

Much too good.

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