Recognition for farmers and ranchers 18-35

HOT SPRINGS – Josh and Melissa Cureton of Cash won the Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2016 Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award. Farm Bureau honored them Dec. 1 at its 82nd annual convention at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The Curetons are a sixth generation row-crop farm family. They grow soybeans and rice on 4,400 acres. Josh is 35 years old and Melissa is 34. The Curetons have three children: Gracye, 15, Cole, 10, and Mattyx, 8.

“Farmers truly care about the products they produce. We use the safest and most environmentally responsible methods available to produce our crops,” Cureton said. “Americans enjoy the safest and most inexpensive food supply of any nation in the world.

“Farming is a lifestyle most people don’t understand. It’s not a job, but a way of life,” Cureton said. “Melissa and I are not just raising crops on the farm. We’re also raising our children. They learn firsthand about hard work and overcoming challenges. I can speak from experience that growing up on a farm instills values in kids that are hard to come by these days.”

Both Josh and Melissa are active in serving their community and Farm Bureau at the county and state level. Melissa is a school teacher. They attend church at Bono Church of Christ.

The Curetons won a $40,000 gift card to use toward the purchase of a new 2017 General Motors vehicle courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company.

The runners-up in the competition were Jeremy and Tracie Kitchens of Lewisville, who raise cattle and swine, and Jamey and Sara Allen of Prattsville, who raise cattle and operate a gate and panel company. Each couple won $1,000.

Dustin Jones of Harrison won the YF&R Discussion Meet. Jones runs a commercial sheep and goat breeding operation and sells brood stock for show goats. The discussion 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 14 competitors in the Discussion Meet.

Jones, 21, won $7,000 toward the purchase of a Polaris All-Terrain Vehicle or side-by-side courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co. and $2,500 from Farm Bureau Bank.

Honors also went to Kevin and Jacque Smith of Decatur. The couple won the Excellence in Agriculture award. The award recognizes young farmers involved in agriculture who get the majority of income off the farm.

The Smiths raise poultry and beef on their farm near Decatur. Off the farm, Kevin, 35, is equipment sales manager for Preferred Poultry company in Lincoln while Jacque, 35, coordinates federal programs and professional development for the Decatur School District. They have two daughters, Jacey, 11, and Kylie, 6.

The Smiths won a Polaris Ranger All-Terrain Vehicle courtesy of Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company and $2,500 courtesy of Publishing Concepts Inc.

All winners also earned expense-paid trips in January to the American Farm Bureau Federation national conference in Phoenix where they’ll compete for national awards.

Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private advocacy organization of almost 191,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

Rob Anderson
(501) 228-1640
rob.anderson@arfb.com

or

Gregg Patterson
(501) 228-1282
gregg.patterson@arfb.com

Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (far right) and Vice President Rich Hillman (far left) present Josh and Melissa Cureton (center) of Cash with the 2016 Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award. The Cureton children, Gracye (left), Cole (middle), and Mattyx (holding award) joined their parents on stage.

Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award runners-up Jeremy and Tracie Kitchens of Lewisville (center), with Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (right) and Vice President Rich Hillman (left).

Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award runners-up Jamey and Sara Allen of Prattsville (center), joined by Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (right) and Vice President Rich Hillman (left).

Dustin Jones of Harrison (second from right)), winner of the YF&R Discussion Meet, recieves his award and check from (l to r) Allyson Hamlin of Farm Bureau Bank, Arkansas Farm Bureau Vice President Rich Hillman and President Randy Veach.

Kevin Smith of Decatur receives the Excellence in Agriculture award from (l to r) David Brown, president of Little Rock-based Publishing Concepts Inc., and Arkansas Farm Bureau Vice President Rich Hillman and President Randy Veach. Smith and his wife, Jacque, won the award together.