Hard work, long days are a way of life for Chaneys

A lot of things are necessities for farmers like William Chaney III. Alarm clocks are not.

“Most days you’re up before the alarm goes off,” Chaney said.

Chaney has been farming all his life, starting as a youngster working alongside his grandfather. He began his own farm with 22 rented acres and bought his grandfather’s farm — where he grew up — 17 years ago.

Now he and his family own and lease a total of more than 1,000 acres where they raise chicken and cattle and grow oats, corn and wheat. They also operate a sandstone quarry.

The Chaneys — William and wife Phylicia and children Parker, Piper, Phorrest and Prim — have been named the Carroll County Farm Family of the Year.

William Chaney is a contract grower for George’s Poultry. He sells cattle to local sales barns.

“Each year, I try to become more efficient,” he said. “We are limited to what we control on the poultry side of things. My goal has always been to stay competitive. I am able to control a lot more on the cattle side. My goal is to continue to produce a good product with as few inputs as possible.”

One way Chaney controls expenses is by raising oats, wheat and corn to help feed his stock.

“With my cattle, I have tried to implement farming as much as possible,” he said. “I have started growing a lot of my commodities. This has helped tremendously on saving cost. I continue to purchase the best genetics I can.”

Chaney got his first cattle loan from the Farm Service Agency when he was 15 years old.

“I bought six cow/calf pairs at $600 a pair,” he said. “I ranched alongside my granddad until I was able to rent my first farm.”

Today, the Chaneys have 150 head of cattle and produce more than 87,000 pounds of beef a year, to go along with 4.5 million pounds of chicken from five broiler houses.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the Chaneys also operate a sandstone quarry.

“We entered into a contract with Rocket Natural Stone five years ago to produce silica sand on our farm,” Chaney said. “The additional income and the use of their equipment has been very helpful.”

When a visitor asks Chaney how he gets everything done each day, his answer is simple: He doesn’t.

“You wake up, you take the biggest fire, you put it out, and you’ll have a list in your head,” he said. “And you’re lucky if you get 50 percent of that because other stuff pops up.”

Phylicia, who tested a visitor’s willpower with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies, is very involved in day-to-day life on the farm as well.

Of course, the Chaneys make sure to have a little fun amidst all that work. Parker, 14, and Piper, 10, enjoy being outdoors and playing basketball. Piper also enjoys participating in pageants. Phylicia coaches Pee-Wee basketball and William is an avid hunter who especially enjoys hunting elk in the fall.

William Chaney is a longtime member of the Carroll County Cattlemen’s Association, Farm Bureau, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the American Angus Association.

Two-year-old Phorrest and baby Prim are already learning to love farm life as well.

“Our two youngest enjoy family time checking cows on the side-byside,” Chaney said.

Chaney said he’s constantly looking for ways to make his farm more efficient.

“I am constantly trying to improve soil quality and hay quality,” he said. “If I can produce a dairy-quality forage on a beef operation, I can cut my inputs tremendously. I have recently started a baitfish pond. I plan to start allotting more time in the future for wildlife habitat. I purchased a band sawmill for the purpose of milling the logs and lumber in my home. I hope to utilize the timber as we start into (timber stand improvement) with Arkansas Forestry.

Chaney modestly directs a visitor to the family home he refers to as “the cabin.”

“The cabin,” it turns out, is a 4,200-square foot masterpiece with stunning views of the Ozarks. Construction took six years, with Chaney and a fellow farmer working on the home as time allowed. The timber came off the Chaneys’ farm and an adjoining one. The ceiling is aspen that was milled in Colorado, and the countertops are made of sandstone from a quarry in Oklahoma.

Chaney, who worked in construction before becoming a full-time farmer, built the stone chimney himself. The home also has a finished basement.

“The gentleman that helped me do it, he farms as well,” Chaney said. “Hay season, we’d have to shut down a month. We’d go get our hay stuff done and then we’d come back. We started cutting timber for it in January 2014.”

Since 1947, the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program has helped to recognize outstanding farm families throughout the state. The objectives of the Farm Family of the Year program are to give recognition and encouragement to farm families who are doing an outstanding job on their farm and in their community; to recognize the importance of agriculture in the community and state; and to disseminate information on improved farm practices and management.

Selection criteria for the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year includes efficiency of production, conservation of energy and resources, leadership in agricultural and community affairs, home and farm improvement and home and farm management.

The Chaneys were visited Monday, June 5, by a set of judges who will selected the Northwest Arkansas District Farm Family of the Year, who will be announced Tuesday, June 13.

The state Farm Family of the Year will be announced in December at the Farm Family of the Year luncheon. The state Farm Family of the Year will then represent Arkansas at the Southeastern Expo Farmer of the Year event in Georgia.

Sponsors of the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program are Arkansas Farm Bureau, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas and the Farm Credit Associations of Arkansas. Additionally, support for the program is provided by the Arkansas Agriculture Department, Arkansas Department of Career Education, Arkansas Press Association, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rural Development.