Woodruff County farmer receives honor
GREGORY — Perry Galloway, 50, is deeply rooted in farming.
“My dad’s family, the Eldridges, and my mom’s family, the Gregorys, farmed all along 33,” he said, noting the state highway that runs straight through Gregory. “The Eldridges farmed the east side of 33, and the Gregorys, the west side. That was in the 1850s.
“I am a sixth-generation farmer and the last active farmer still farming between the two families,” he said.
Galloway is the 2017 Woodruff County Farm Family of the Year.
“It was an honor to receive the Farm Family of the Year recognition,” he said.
“I assume they thought it was deserved,” Galloway said, smiling. “We have quite a few achievements since we first started farming. I don’t mind being recognized for our hard work.”
Galloway is a son of Mary Eleanor Galloway of Yazoo City, Mississippi, and the late W.P. Galloway, and a grandson of the late R.E. and Iris Gregory and the late Virginia Eldridge Galloway. Perry has one brother, Charles Galloway of Madison, Mississippi, who is partially involved in the farming operation, and one sister, Mary Noel Gilbrech of Eden Isle, who is not involved in the farming operation.
Perry Galloway is not married
but does have a girlfriend, Farah Simmons. They have been dating for 10 years.
Galloway farms approximately 8,500 acres in and around Gregory. He raises approximately 5,000 acres of soybeans, 1,800 acres of corn, 1,200 acres of rice and 900 acres of wheat, with 90 percent of the crops being irrigated.
He also operates Broadview Aviation LLC in Gregory and Hefty Seed Co. in Augusta.
“I’m a crop duster. I also have a retail business in which I sell seed, chemicals and fertilizer,” he said.
“I’ve been farming since I was a little boy. I lived here and started school here, but we moved to Mississippi in 1974, where my family continued to farm. I graduated from Manchester Academy in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and went to Ole Miss, where I received a degree in general business in 1989. That’s when I moved back to Arkansas,” Galloway said.
“I started farming 800 acres and have now grown to over 8,000 acres,” he said. “I have had some success. I’ve had high yields, and I credit that to good management of soil. I try to take good care of the farm.
“I have been awarded for high yields in both corn and soybeans. In 2015, I had the highest yield in the state in soybeans. I achieved a yield of 108.759 bushels per acre.”
For that soybean yield, Galloway was recognized as the state winner of the 2015 Grow for the Green Soybean Yield Contest. His brother, Charles, placed third in the contest, which is sponsored by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the Arkansas Soybean Association.
“Also in 2015, I was recognized for my corn yield,” Perry Galloway said. “I raised 318 bushels of corn per acre that year.”
Galloway placed in the top three in the state in the National Corn Growers Association from 2010 to 2015. In 2016, he was named the Mid-America Corn Farmer of the Year by the Mid-America Farm Grower publication.
He has been honored for high wheat yields, too.
“I am a member of the 100 Bushel Club sponsored by AgriMaxx Wheat and have been for the past five out of six years,” he said.
Galloway has been recognized by the National Sorghum Producers in its high-yield contest as well, being named the state winner in 2015.
“As you can see, we have won many awards for production,” he said.
“I have help on the farm,” he said. “I have about 10 employees, … five seasonal workers from South Africa who are here through the government’s H2-A [visa] program as agriculture employees.
“Misty Currier is my office manager,” Galloway said. “She’s the glue that holds all of this together.”
Galloway is one of two pilots in his aviation service, which employs three people.
“We have two planes, … crop dusters, known as air tractors,” he said.
He said there are also six employees in Hefty Seed Co. of Augusta.
Galloway still operates his farm as Galloway Cotton Farms, although he hasn’t raised cotton in several years.
“That used to be the staple crop,” he said, “but times change.”
Galloway attends First Baptist Church of Augusta. He is a past president and current vice president of the Woodruff County Farm Bureau Board of Directors. He is an alderman for the city of Augusta and a member of the Augusta Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Soybean Association.
He is also a member of Angel Flight, a nonprofit organization that relocates people in times of disaster.
“I took my plane to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and helped relocate displaced people,” he said. “That was a satisfying experience. I did that for about a year and a half.”
When he is not working, Galloway said, he enjoys traveling, duck-hunting and flying his personal plane.
“I just got back from a trip to Israel in March,” he said. “It was fascinating to see the agriculture there. I went there with an irrigation company to see their hightech irrigation systems. I hope to take my mom there later this year. At 77, she is very active; she plays tennis every day.”
Galloway also has five dogs on the farm.
“I have two Labradors — Sister and Gus; two rescues — Sonic and Camry; and one Yorkie, Stella, who is the boss. I love my dogs. I also have a farm cat, Chester.”