MAYSVILLE — Garrett Gittlein grew up farming his family’s land in western Kansas, and for the past nine years he has been growing his own family farm in western Benton County.

Gittlein, 32, with his wife, Amanda, 31, and sons Mason, 6, and Colson, 3, were recognized Tuesday as the 2017 Farm Family of the Year for Benton County.

Jim Singleton, chairman of the selection committee, said the program is designed to recognize farm families and emphasize the importance of farming to Benton County and Arkansas. The program honors families who integrate modern farming practices into the traditional family farming model.

The Gittleins operate a cattle and hay operation on 820 acres southwest of Gravette, right on the Arkansas-Oklahoma line. The family owns 350 acres and leases another 470 acres. The operation houses a herd of 175 head of registered Angus cattle and allows the Gittleins to grow fescue, Bermuda hay, alfalfa and triticale in a forage production operation yielding about 1,700 tons of forage and up to 4,000 bales annually.

Gittlein said he and his wife grew up in rural Kansas. They were drawn to Northwest Arkansas by Amanda’s parents, who moved to Bella Vista. He said they started their own family farm nine years ago, buying 40 acres and eight registered Black Angus heifers from his wife’s family in Kansas.

“Those eight cows have led us to where we are now and have made Gittlein Farms a successful family farm,” he said.

Gittlein has incorporated the cattle and hay production operations into a single business and uses the hay produced to supply forage for his own herd and to another 10 or 11 ranchers. He cleans poultry houses and uses the litter as fertilizer on his fields. Gittlein also adopted a crop rotation plan and incorporated irrigation and drainage measures to increase yields.

The cattle business can be very volatile, Gittlein said, which makes it all the more important he’s able to produce his own forage and have enough to supply others, giving him a cushion for the cattle business.

“It can be a real roller coaster,” he said. “It can change on a moment’s notice.”

Letters from Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, that praised the Gittleins were read to the crowd of a dozen or so people who attended Tuesday.

County Judge Barry Moehring read a proclamation honoring the Gittleins, noting “22 percent of all Arkansans support their families on incomes from jobs in agriculture and related enterprises.”

State Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, read a proclamation adopted by the state Legislature honoring the Gittleins. Douglas said he was pleased to see a young couple, with two young children and a third on the way, involved in agriculture.

“It’s truly great to see a young couple with a young family involved in farming,” Douglas said. “Most times you see folks like me who are old and gray-headed.”

Gittlein said he is wanting to expand but acquiring land adjacent to the current operation is difficult.

“We’d like to keep growing,” he said.

Farm Family Program

For 70 years, the Farm Family of the Year program has recognized district winners across Arkansas. Those families are eligible for recognition as the state Farm Family of the Year. That award is announced in December.

Source: Staff report