The encroachment of urban sprawl may eventually overtake them, but until it does the family of James and Linda Simpson and their children, Amanda, 20; Rebecca, 17; and Tyler, 14; plan to continue to put up the good fight on the land that has been farmed by his family for five generations.

As proof of their abilities and determination they have been named Benton County Arkansas Farm Bureau Farm Family of the year.

“This was my grandparents place,” Simpson said indicating the house where he currently lives. “I grew up on the next farm up the road and my great-grandparents had the farm across the road. They only had 40 acres and ran a dairy, 25 cows, and raised strawberries. The pickers would receive tickets when they brought in their baskets of berries and these would be cashed. They could take the tickets to the stores in Cave Springs and spend them like cash. I still have some of those tickets. Now you can’t make a living on a small place like that.”

The Simpsons have a diversified operation that includes 110 beef cows, and producing high quality Bermuda grass hay.

“The Bermuda grass is harvested as horse quality hay in small square bales and round bales and sold to local customers or stored for sale during the winter to individuals or farm stores. We also have fescue we hay and it is packaged in round bales. The excess beyond the needs of our cattle operation is sold to local customers. Having a reputation for producing quality hay at a reasonable price has allowed my customer base to expand by word-of-mouth,” Simpson said. “These same local contacts have been instrumental in the sale of hay as far away as Colorado. I’ve also sold hay in Texas and Southeast Missouri. The livestock are marketed through our local sale barn. Marketing cattle through the local sale barn works well for my operation. I have always received a fair price and even though programs such as retained ownership might provide additional income, I feel that the trade off would be additional effort and record-keeping that I currently don’t have the resources for.”

Because so many of the area farmers have sold out to development interests or taken off farm jobs, Simpson has found himself called upon to do custom haying.

He says labor is one of the biggest problems with doing all of the things that need to be done. All three children help, but between their school, community and 4-H obligations they don’t have a lot of free time either. Amanda attends the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where her father studied while farming, and helps when she can. Rachel and Tyler attend Bentonville High School. Simpson’s brother, a retired UofA Extension agent, helps, but there is always something that needs to be done now. This need for a more efficient way to move large round bales of hay resulted in Simpson designing and building a two-pronged system for the rear of the tractor which can move two bales at the same time the front-mounted system is moving a third.

“I had a tractor with a cab that was capable of lifting and carrying two on the back so I built an attachment from a V-rake frame and it worked well. I entered it in the Farm Bureau’s Idea Exchange and won at the national level. That earned me the free use of a New Holland tractor for a year. I utilize time-saving technology whenever I can. I’m not going into the business of building them, if anyone wants to build one for their own use that’s fine.”

Simpson also speeded up his haying operation by using a disk mower-conditioner that has a spray system that applies a dessicant and a preservative to Bermuda as the hay is cut. This cuts out two passes over the field to apply and incorporate the material, reduces the number of passes required with a tedder rake to dry the hay and allows hay to be baled sooner and retain a higher quality.

Since he was a small child, Simpson’s goal was to become a farmer. By the age of eight he was the proud operator of a 1967 Massey-Ferguson 135 tractor his grandfather purchased and the next year his father purchased a two-bottom plow to go with it so he could plow with the men. He still has the tractor and is in the process of restoring it to its original glory.

“There’s a dent in the left rear fender I don’t intend to take out,” he said. “The day my grandfather brought it home he decided it had to go in the shed that night. All of the other tractors set out, but he wanted this new one in the shed and when he backed it in he put that dent in the fender. It stays.”

Because of the surrounding development, Simpson has found himself taking on more duties.

“Our family is the last full-time farmers in this section. There are developments all around us. The 13th hole of the Shadow Valley Country Club is right across the road. I don’t want to be completely surrounded by a gated community, but right now I’m leasing the land they aren’t ready to develop and using it for grazing and hay.”

Between owned and leased land, Simpson manages approximately 900 acres. He employees a strict nutrient management plan on the entire acreage. This includes not applying chicken litter or other fertilizers in the early spring when big rains are likely to wash it into the watershed. He also times the application of herbicides to obtain the best results and has placed a hot wire fence around a wooded area to keep the cattle out and encourage the deer population to expand.

“I harvested the largest buck of my life right here on the farm in the 2006-07 season,” he said. “With the exception of Bermuda grass establishment I avoid tillage. I own a sod drill which allows me to seed and over-seed fields without disturbing the soil. This also saves time and fuel.”