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HOT SPRINGS — Brian and Elizabeth Walker of
Horatio (Sevier County) are winners of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2010 Young
Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award. Farm Bureau honored the
couple Dec. 2 at its 76th Annual Convention at the Hot Springs
Convention Center.
They own Lucky 13 Farm, an operation on 480 acres that
includes 10 broiler houses, as well as cow/calf and feeder calf
operations. Brian presently is vice president on the Sevier County Farm
Bureau board of directors, and he and Elizabeth are co-chairman and
co-chairwoman of the county YF&R among numerous other community
endeavors.
The Walkers have a daughter, Reese, 4, and a son, Rhett, 2.
The Walkers won a 2011 Chevrolet 1500 quad cab, 4X4 pickup truck courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company.
The runners-up in the competition were Josh and Melissa
Cureton of Cash (Craighead County), who produce rice and soybeans; and
Jeremy and Magen Allen of Bismarck (Hot Spring County). Each couple won
$1,000.
Robby Bevis of Lonoke (Lonoke County), won the Young
Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet. The meet provides a forum for
young farm leaders to demonstrate their verbal and problem-solving
presentation skills while they discuss their views on issues affecting
agriculture. There were 15 competitors.
Bevis, of Lonoke, won a Kawasaki Mule and the use of a new
front-wheel assist Kubota tractor with a front-end loader for one year.
Bevis row crop farms and has cattle.
Honors also went to Chris and Alechia Meador. The Meadors
won the Excellence in Agriculture award. The award recognizes young
farmers involved in agriculture but who get the majority of income off
the farm.
The Meadors own a poultry and cattle farm at Green Forest
(Carroll County) known as Meador Manor. It includes six broiler houses
and a 100-head commercial cow/calf operation. Off farm, Chris works as a
grower consultant for Tyson, where he supervises 35 broiler farms.
Alechia is a certified public accountant and provides tax preparation,
payroll, bookkeeping and financial planning services.
Their prize is a John Deere Gator, courtesy of Western
Arkansas Farm Credit, Ag Heritage Farm Credit, Farm Credit Mid South
and Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company. They also got a John Deere
lawn tractor courtesy of Arkansas John Deere dealers and John Deere Inc.
The Meadors have two sons, Mason, 4 and Jace, 2.
All winners also earned expense-paid trips to the American
Farm Bureau Federation national conference in Atlanta next month, where
they’ll compete for national awards.
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