By Randy Rice

Tucked up in the northwest corner of the Natural State is the Benton County Farm Family of the Year, Fletcher Farms. Owned and operated by Michael and Whitney Fletcher, they, along with their three children, continue the family farm tradition that dates back over 50 years to when Phillip and Alta Fletcher, Michael’ s parents, began farming in 1971.

“ Every cow in our herd can be traced back to an original set of 250 registered black Angus cows they purchased in 1987,” Michael said.“ With blood, sweat

and a lot of prayer it has grown into the calf cow operation it is today.”

Michael and Whitney met at the Benton County Fair one hot summer day in August.

“ I’ m a Missouri girl, while Michael was born and raised right here in Hiwasse, Arkansas,” Whitney said.“ Michael has spent his life on this farm raising cattle and I might be biased, but nobody does this job better.”

To the Fletchers, farming is more than a job or a career, it’ s something that is in their blood, it is a way of life.

“ It’ s what God created us to do,”

Michael said.“ We work hard and at the end of the day, being a good steward of what God has blessed us with is what satisfies our hearts. We love the seasons. We look forward to the green grass, branding and cutting hay in the spring, and we look forward to gathering and weaning in the fall. We love that every day is different.”

“ We love the final product being shipped off and being able to reflect back to the previous year and all of struggles we were able to overcome,” Whitney added.“ Seeing the calves born and grow from start to finish is rewarding.

One thing I’ m sure of is that it can be the worse day ever, but for some reason when we wake up the next morning there’ s nothing else we would rather do.”

Michael believes that being a thirdgeneration farmer / rancher is a great privilege and he has a responsibility to do his best to build upon the foundation that is in place. And he sees the direct benefits of his work through his children.

“ It’ s such a blessing to see our children get to run and play and just be kids without the distractions of our current culture,” he said.“ They learn life-long skills through experience, get to see first-