6 minute read
Couple follows their dreams of farming
from OFN March 15, 2021
by Eric Tietze
meet your neighbors
Building a Future at Heritage Acres
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By Terry Ropp Couple says they were always drawn to farming
Californaians Jim Isbell and of livestock, including cattle, pigs, goats and Karen Spinner moved to Fayette- sheep. Because the goal was to use machinery ville, Ark., in 2012 while retaining as little as possible, chicken and cattle proved their California jobs. The couple to be the most doable. has two children, daughter Molly, “I never expected to become as passionwho is 8, and son Hunter, who is ate about chickens as I am,” Jim explained. 6. Jim is an implementation manager for a “Arkansas is a rural state which means telecommunications company, while Karen chickens are allowed in many towns as develops marketing plans for large corpora- long as no roosters are around to disturb tions, but there was always a draw to farming. neighbors. Our customer base is made up
“Part of my education is in history and I of people who want to know where their have this romanticized view of owning a food comes from and to raise chickens as farm, similar to those hundred years ago,” part of that process with some being rural Jim said. “I want the lifestyle as much as and some more urban.” sustainability and being morally responsi- The farm has and continues to experiment ble in my methods.” with different heritage species. Swedish Flow-
Jim never lived on a farm, though his moth- er hens are their current dominant breed er Eve and stepfather Gary had a few chick- because they are hardy and popular with cusens. Karen had no tomers. Currently, background in ag- Heritage Acres supriculture, but was ports 30 to 40 hens as captured by the and 10 roosters. same idea as Jim. The chickens are
When they be- raised in “chicken gan their search, tractors,” movable they thought per- enclosures that rehaps 5 to 10 acres quire no machinwould be enough ery. The enclosures but soon realized are 8-feet-by-4-feet, they needed more with six birds per land to fulfill the tractor. Each has vision. Eve, a re- a four-way nesting altor, became ag- box with protecgressive in searching and found a location tion from rain and sun provided by corrugatof two connected properties with an old ed sheeting. Jim puts a little feed on one of home built in the 1930s. She took them the 4-foot sides and pulls the enclosure daiby truck through many trails developed ly, thereby exposing the feed. The chickens by the previous owners. When Karen saw stay and eat and are at the other side of the the wonderful trails, she knew this was the enclosure when Jim manually pulls it exactly place and jogs the trails every day. one enclosure width. The chickens are not
The land has a few strips of black dirt, but it allowed to brood, and the eggs are harvested is mostly a sandy loam with just enough soil to daily and put into an incubator. produce quality grass. Through Jim has another 10 of the enthe years of ownership, they closures with other breeds he have slowly worked to rehab the Fayetteville, Ark. is experimenting with. A curland, which includes fertilizing rent project is the challenge of and getting rid of stubborn plants producing a barred Silverudd’s like blackberries. They have ex- Blue by crossing it with a barred perimented raising many differ- breed in order to produce an autoent breeds of chickens and kinds sex chicken, one where males and
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Jim Isbell was always drawn to the farming way of life, even though he didn’t grow up on a farm. Today, he and his family have multiple livestock operations.
females have different coloration patterns. So far, Jim has been able to produce a blue barred bird, but the bar is muted and very difficult to see. One advantage is that the cross is consistent and has hybrid vigor. Right now, the cross is an F1, and the many in-town residents who want chickens want hens because of noise ordinances.
Another of the couple’s interests are heritage Chocolate turkeys. They purchased their starters from Jake Jersey in Hindsville, who maintains a wide variety of heritage breeds. They have eight to 10 breeding hens and four toms. They are also in enclosures, but these are larger and stationary, with hay used as bedding after October so the soil is naturally improved by the turkeys. Nearby walnut trees draw the Japanese beetles, caterpillars and June bugs, tidbits the birds aggressively scratch through the hay to find.
Heritage Acres’ marketing strategy ties nicely with their philosophical dedication to using gentle and moral environmental use as much as possible. While they sell a few chicken eggs and no turkey eggs, they prefer to control the hatching themselves so customers receive live animals rather than taking a chance that some eggs won’t hatch. Their preference for both chickens and turkeys is to sell hens rather than hatchlings, pullets or poults because the birds will have gone through at least two different seasons and produced eggs, which means those birds are hardy and dependable. Their website specifies pricing for different aged birds.
Jim’s image of the 100-year-old farm is reinforced by a herd of 15 to 20 naturally horned Piney Wood cows bought from Jeff Brown in Mississippi. They have five or six bulls not used for breeding but raised for processing. Unfortunately, coronavirus slowed everything down and will sort itself out eventually with the backup being finding processing. Jim is highly appreciative of B & R Processing in Winslow and uses them for the Piney Woods and for a few pigs they raise for personal use.
“Every farmer has to make compromises in what he would prefer to do as opposed to what is most essential from a practical standpoint because we do have a world to feed and have not yet developed a technology to avoid using fossil fuels,” Jim said. “Consequently, I do occasionally use a tractor but as little as possible and never use antibiotics.”
While Heritage Acres is a business, it is more importantly a lifestyle choice. Watching his children hearing the incubated chicks on their front porch through the door and eagerly awaiting to hold the small birds makes everything worthwhile for both he and Karen.
“As young as our children are, I can already see how this lifestyle has affected them,” Jim asserted. “They understand far better than most children their age the concepts of life and death, the value of each life and the responsibility of treating each life gently.”
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