Leaders in Ag recognized during Expo event

Business owners, a young farmer, a woman in agriculture and a family were honored Friday as outstanding members of the area farming community. Awards were given out at the third annual farmer appreciation luncheon, prior to the 34th annual Ag Expo.

The winners were: Boyles Farm Service, Outstanding Farm Business; Chad Buttrey, Outstanding Young Farmer: Kathryn Clark, Outstanding Woman in Ag; and Landon and Hayley Benson, Outstanding Farm Family.

Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce President Steve Halter welcomed the 70 people attending to show “appreciation for this important sector of our community.”

Juan Cabrera-Garcia, horticulture specialist for the University of Missouri Extension Office, presented the awards.

Farm business

Introducing the Boyles family, owners of Boyles Farm Service in Fisk, Cabrera-Garcia said, construction started in the winter of 1969/1970 on the first of many buildings built over 50 years.

In 1973, Charles and Norma Boyles bought out their partner, Russell Edmundson. The business has remained in the Boyles Family since that time, Cabrera-Garcia said.

Three generations of the family have been employed at the business. Currently, the owner is Norma Boyles. Her son, Larry Boyles, and daughter, Kim Galloway, work for her, Cabrera-Garcia said.

Cabrera-Garcia said, the family recalls the way fertilizer is sold has changed. At first, they sold bagged fertilizer to customers to apply to the fields. Next was the fertilizer buggy and today, it is applied by an Air Flow truck driven by a third generation family member, Cabrera-Garcia said.

The family recalled farmers hauled most of the soybeans in a pick up truck or a bob truck (10 wheeler).

Young farmer

Buttrey, 35, grows corn, rice and soybeans in Fisk. He grew up working on Buttrey Farms with his parents, Terry and Karen, and grandparents, Ed and Eulane Buttrey. Buttrey graduated from Twin Rivers High School in 2002, and from Southeast Missouri State University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in construction management and design.

“After graduation, he came straight back to the farm where he proudly continues as the fourth generation of Buttrey Farms,” Cabrera-Garcia said.

Buttrey said, he is “blessed with an amazing wife, Megan, and incredible 3-year-old daughter, Amelia,” and with another daughter due in March, Buttrey “is expecting a very busy spring.”

Buttrey explained in his biography, “Farming definitely has its hardships and challenges, but there is nothing he would rather do. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

Woman in ag

Honored as an outstanding woman in agriculture, Clark “is committed to student success inside the classroom and in life as a high school agriculture teacher at Poplar Bluff High School,” Cabrera-Garcia explained.

She grew up a row crop farmer’s daughter, and agriculture always has been a big part of her life. After high school, she knew agriculture field and education were her fields. She has a master’s degree from Southeast in educational leadership, a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University in agriculture education, and an associate degree from Three Rivers College.

Cabrera-Garcia said, Clark has helped students accomplish many different things during her 10 years of teaching high school agriculture, including winning a national dairy judging contest, state FFA officer, American FFA degree recipients, many district FFA career development event titles, and growing the PB agriculture program. The most rewarding thing about her job is visiting with past students about career success they have found because of the agriculture program.

Clark wears many hats to be able to grow a successful agriculture program, including helping run the FFA organization, running a school greenhouse, being a R-1 schools district ambassador, working to connect the agriculture program to the community, and serving on different committees and offices for the Missouri Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association, Cabrera-Garcia said

Clark said, she wouldn’t be able to have success if it wasn’t for the support of her co-teacher, Dean Lackey, her school family, and most of all her husband, Alex Clark, her dad, Russell Savat, and boys, Luke and Max.

Farm family

Farm family winners are Landon Benson, his wife, Hayley, and their three daughters, Landry, Laney and Heidi Jo Benson.

Benson grew up farming with his grandfather and dad. He has worked under his dad since high school. After he graduated from college, he became full time growing rice, corn and soybeans.

Hayley teaches kindergarten at Qulin Elementary School. They raise golden retrievers. Landry and Laney play softball and basketball. Laney and Heidi also compete in pageants.

Sponsors of the event were Greenway, Colton’s, Aire Solutions, Dr. Yeoman’s Dermatology Office, Sterling Bank, Heritage Title Company, Legacy Farm & Land Specialist, Productive Staffing, Mossy Oak Properties Inc., Mozark Realty, Farm Credit, MU Extension, Commerce Bank and Unite Country Real Estate.