LINCOLN -- Jerry and Dyanna Moyer expressed their appreciation at being named Farm Family of the Year but to them being farmers is all about giving back to kids -- their own daughters and many others they've helped over the years.
"That's what is important to us," Jerry Moyer said last week during a media event to announce the Moyers as the 2018 Washington County Farm Family of the Year and give friends, family, business leaders and others the opportunity to congratulate the family. "It's so important we educate the next generation."
See Farm Family photos on Page 6A.
The Moyer family includes Jerry and Dyanna, daughters Cheyenne, 25, and Caleigh Sue, 23, and two others they consider as "adopted" family members: niece Dixie Miller and Paul Cole, who started working on the farm as a teenager and then began showing animals with the help of the Moyers.
Dyanna Moyer said the family has helped many children learn about farming and agriculture over the years in various ways. Some have worked on the farm and others keep their show animals on the farm. They've driven students to 4H and FFA events and helped sponsor them in others ways.
One year for example, Dyanna said, her husband trimmed 90 head of hooves for free for FFA members.
"We feel fortunate enough to have built a platform that allows us to be advocates for the agriculture industry in many ways," the couple writes in a package that tells about their farm. "Over the years, we have introduced over 65 kids that we consider 'our own' to agriculture through livestock show projects or simply exposing them to production agriculture and it would not feel right leaving them out of our story."
Their daughters are out of the house but the couple is still involved with teaching kids about caring for animals and showing animals at the county fair.
Cheyenne is an agriculture teacher in Andale, Kan., and Caleigh is an admissions counselor for Southern Arkansas University while pursing a master's degree in supply chain management.
Father Figure Steps In
Jerry Moyer credits his farming passion to neighbors in Springdale. Jerry was 4 years old when his father passed away and he and his mother moved to Springdale. His neighbors, J.O. Parker and Marie Parker, "adopted me and I adopted them," Jerry said. He helped them on their farm and "one thing led to another."
Even though she didn't grow up on a farm, Dyanna spent most days at her grandparent's farm in Elm Springs.
Jerry and Dyanna married, had two girls and farmed with the Parkers on a five-acre farm in Springdale. They sold the farm in 1999 and the two families bought 100 acres near Lincoln in the Rheas Mill community and moved to rural Washington County in 1999 to establish PLR Farms.
The new farm was a former dairy farm and Jerry said the first thing he did was to remove the milking stations from the barn. He and Dyanna were not interested in having a dairy farm. They wanted to continue with beef cattle.
"We did not want to milk twice a day," Dyanna said.
In addition, they moved from a new, 2,400-square-foot home in Springdale and lived in the dairy barn for about a year before moving into their current house.
"This tells you how much we wanted to live on a farm," Dyanna said.
With the help of the Parkers, Jerry and Dyanna reared their girls on the farm and exhibited their registered Hereford cattle across the country.
Along with owning and operating a farm, both Jerry and Dyanna have jobs off the farm. Dyanna is a paraprofessional at Prairie Grove Middle School and Jerry works for Clearview Enterprises, a company devoted to poultry health. Jerry Moyer's previous experience includes working for George's Inc. and Preferred Poultry.
Expanding Into Chickens
Jerry Moyer's poultry experience proved vital when the couple decided to expand their farm into the chicken business as a way to help the family financially and to help their daughters with college expenses. Both Cheyenne and Caleigh were able to graduate from college without any debt and Jerry and Dyanna said they consider this one of their biggest accomplishments.
The Moyers built four commercial broiler houses in 2013 and are a contract grower for George's. Their current farm includes 40 head of registered Hereford cattle, 15 head of commercial cattle and 3.7 million pounds of chickens annually. They also grow different types of grass hay.
Their neighbors across the creek, Steve and Sherry Crawford, take care of the poultry houses during the day and the Moyers said they could not do it without their help.
"It's been a good situation for us," Dyanna said.
Daughters Follow Footsteps
Both girls knew at an early age they would be interested in agricultural careers, according to Cheyenne.
"I 100 percent knew that's what I wanted to be," Cheyenne said.
They were involved with 4-H and Prairie Grove High's FFA chapter and remained actively involved with FFA on the college level. They've studied agriculture overseas in countries that included South Africa, Brazil and France.
Cheyenne said it was hard work growing up on a farm but it was fun.
"My fondest childhood memories are doing things together as a family on the farm," Cheyenne said.
Cheyenne showed cattle and pigs but Caleigh Sue was considered more adventurous and showed many different types of livestock.
"That was her bucket list," Cheyenne said, "to show every meat market animal she could."
Cheyenne thanked her Prairie Grove ag teachers, Clint Hale and David Hays, for their leadership and support.
"They provided me with so many opportunities, including opportunities for college scholarships," she said. "I'm forever grateful for them."
Farm Improvements
The Moyers have made many improvements on their farm over the years to help with efficiency, with protecting the environment and meeting challenges.
They've increased pasture quality by implementing rotational grazing. They started with four large pastures and now have 13 separately fenced pastures to rotate their cattle. Plans are to create four more pastures.
The Moyers improved water distribution by installing about 3,500 feet of water line so cattle can graze in several different pastures. When they first purchased the farm, it only had one pond and two water tanks.
Another advance has been to install an "Eco-drum" composter that automatically composts chicken remains. It takes about 21 days for the remains to be turned into compost that is then spread on the farm. At times, the temperature in the drum is as hot as 140 degrees, Moyer said.
Next Up For Moyers
The Washington County Farm Family of the Year program is sponsored by Arkansas Farm Bureau and a number of other agricultural services. A selection committee considers several farms each year when awarding the honor.
The Moyers next will be considered for District Farm Family of the Year and if selected on that level, will qualify for Arkansas Farm Family of the Year. A judging committee was scheduled to visit with the Moyers last week on Wednesday.
Moyer said he was honored for his family to be selected for the 2018 farm family.
"What a huge honor this is," Moyer said. "How blessed we are."
General News on 06/20/2018