Farming partnership wins county, district honors
TUCKERMAN — This has been a big year for Young’s Generation Three Partnership Farms.
The partnership was recognized in May as the 2019 Jackson County Farm Family of the Year, then in June as the Northeast District Farm Family of the Year. The partnership, which also celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, comprises Tommy Young and his wife, Amy, and his two nephews, Blake Young and his wife, Holly, and James Norman “Jim” Young III and his wife, Brandy.
The Youngs grow soybeans, corn, wheat and rice on more than 7,000 acres. They also own Young’s Irrigation, which was started in 1988 by Tommy and his two older brothers, James Norman Young Jr., father of Jim Young; and Ronald Young, father of Blake Young. In 2009, James Jr. and Ronald transferred their interests in Young’s Irrigation to their sons, Jim and Blake.
Through Young’s Irrigation, Tommy and his brothers opened a T&L Irrigation Sprinkler dealership in Tuckerman that provides overhead irrigation systems for farms. Since then, Tommy and his nephews have enlarged that business and have become an Agsense dealership, which provides weather stations, center pivot monitors and soilmoisture monitoring systems, all of which are controlled through technology using mobile devices or computers. They have installed this on their farms, and Young’s Generation Three Partnership has what is known as a complete Agsense farm.
Tommy said they share their experiences with other farmers, believing, “If it works on our farm, it will most likely fit well on your farm as well.”
“We are all so humbled by even being chosen as the Jackson County Farm Family of the Year, not to mention being judged the District Farm Family,” Tommy said on behalf of the family. “We strive to do things right and be innovative with technology. Hopefully, this innovative thinking helps the environment by preserving natural resources and also protecting the environment by not overusing pesticides and fertilizers.
“We want to be assets to our fellow farmers by assisting in any way we can to make farming easier and more sustainable. We do this by sharing ideas, any time we get the opportunity, with our fellow growers.
Tommy, 55, has farmed for 35 years; Blake, 50, and Jim, 45, have both farmed for 14 years.
Young’s Family Farm was established in Jackson County in 1947 by Tommy’s parents, Eva Baker Young of Tuckerman and the late James Norman Young Sr., not long after Norman returned home from World War II and moved his family — which, at that time, included James Jr. and Ronald — to Jackson County from Independence County. Tommy was born several years later, in 1964.
“Blake, Jim and I, along with our wives and children, believe this is a great honor to be recognized by our peers for the work we do …,” Tommy said.
“We believe it is important to mention that we could not do what we do without others. We appreciate our employees very much. We have a saying, ‘We cannot drive everything ourselves,’ so we give a great deal of our success to them,” Tommy said.
“Young’s Generation Three Partnership is, to me, more than just a farm family,” said Matthew Davis, Jackson County Cooperative Extension Service agent for agriculture.
“The Youngs believe in their community and the people around them,” Davis said. “The passion they have for farming and the desire to see those around them achieve success are why they were chosen as the Jackson County Farm Family, as well as the District Farm Family.
“They are what community is all about. I am very excited to see what the future holds for them.”
The Youngs will be judged, along with seven other district winners, to determine a state winner, who will be announced Dec. 6 at the Farm Family of the Year Luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel in North Little Rock.
TOMMY TOYS AROUND IN THE FIELDS
Tommy said he knew he wanted to be a farmer when his dad brought him his first toy tractor.
“I planted fields in the vacant space left between the yard and the field beside our house,” Tommy said. “I would plant soybeans, grain sorghum, wheat and anything my father and older brothers were planting at the time. I loved it. I would water the plants and fertilize them all, pretending I was doing it with my toy tractors. … I began going to the fields with my dad and brothers in the summer when I was finishing the first grade. I was 6 or 7 years old at the time. … I guess you could say I was bred into farming.”
Tommy was active in FFA in high school and went on to attend Arkansas State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in management. After college, he returned home and began farming with his older brothers, forming the Young Brothers Partnership.
Tommy married Amy Shoffner in 1986; she is a licensed abstractor and landtitle agent. She worked for 28 years and owned her own business, Jackson County Land Title Services, then sold it in 2012. She now manages the family’s home and helps during harvest at the granary.
Tommy and Amy raised her niece, Haley Shoffner, 26, and two nephews, Cody Shoffner, 25, and Andrew Shoffner, 21. Haley holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from ASU and is the dietitian at The Crossing at Riverside Rehabilitation and Skilled Care in Searcy. Cody received a bachelor’s degree in computer technology from ASU and is working on his master’s degree; he is also employed at ASU. Andrew plans to graduate from ASU in 2020 with a degree in computer technology.
Tommy is a member of the U.S. Grains Council, the Jackson County Extension Council, the National Corn Growers Association, the Jackson County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Board.
He is vice president of the Farmers Supply Association Board of Directors, a Jackson County justice of the peace and the founding chairman of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society, which collects and archives the history of Tuckerman and its trails.
Amy is a charter member of the Junior Auxiliary of Jackson County, a founding member of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society, co-chairwoman of the Jackson County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee and a member of the Arkansas Farm Bureau State Women’s Committee and the Arkansas Land Title Association.
Tommy and Amy are members of Northside Church of Christ, where Tommy is treasurer.
BLAKE CLIMBS THE COMBINE Blake Young is a thirdgeneration farmer.
“At a very early age, I watched farming happen right outside of my house,” Blake said. “We lived near our farm shop, and I could always see a tractor, combine, cotton picker while they were parked. I would climb on and pretend I was driving. I dreamed about it in my sleep.
“At my grandparents’ house down the road, my Uncle Tommy has enough toy farming equipment to farm their living-room carpet from planting to harvest,” Blake said. “My mother, [Nancy Young], would sometimes take dad, [Ronald Young], lunch, and I got to go and ride with him. He would show me more each time I went. I got older and began helping with seed for his planter. I was not quite big enough to pour the sacks or drive the bob truck, but in just a few years, I could do both. I had a real job every summer until the wheat was harvested and the soybeans planted.
“Farming has been a heritage and a great, rewarding life,” Blake said. “It was easy to learn hard work, responsibility and respect on the family farm. Now with my cousin [Jim] and uncle [Tommy], we get to keep the tradition going. With God, love, patience and a will to work, we can continue to farm with future generations.”
Blake is married to Holly Brown Young, a radiation therapist at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Jonesboro.
Blake and Holly’s son, Kylan, 21, attends ASU-Newport and is active at the Tuckerman Church of Christ. Their daughter, Lauren, 18, is a recent graduate
of Tuckerman High School and hopes to be accepted into the veterinary technician program at Arkansas State University-Beebe.
Blake is a member of the Jackson County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, the Jackson County Farm Bureau Soybeans Committee, the National Corn Growers Association and the Tuckerman Church of Christ and is a founding member of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society. Holly is a founding member of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society, is registered in Arkansas for radiology and therapy, and is a member of the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
JIM RIDES WITH DAD Jim Young said he began working on the farm when he was about 10.
“I began riding around the farm with my dad,” Jim said. “The first job I remember was being the seed man. I kept the bob truck loaded with seed and pulled up along the end of the fields so the person planting wouldn’t have to travel for seed.
“As I got older and bigger, the jobs on the farm came with more responsibility,” he said. “During my junior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to be elected to attend Boys State. When I got back from that adventure, all of the tractor seats on the farm were filled. That only left a combine seat open for me to drive. That June, my dad began teaching me how to drive a combine. Since that time, I have only missed one wheat harvest, and that was when I was attending classes at Arkansas State University. …
“In 1997, my dad, [James Jr.], was diagnosed with cancer, and I began riding with him to help him during that difficult time,” said Jim, who is also a son of Nora Young. “I learned from him the best I could so I could tend the rice the way he wanted it tended. I learned a lot that summer. I learned how hard he worked and how he sacrificed his time for the farm to help make his family a better way of life. I also learned what all it took to succeed. I have tried to continue tending the rice crop just as he did, but in my own way. Sometimes I still call on him for his advice.”
Jim’s wife, Brandy, is a speech pathologist for the Jackson County School District.
Jim and Brandy have three sons — James Norman “Quade” Young IV, 17, who will be a senior at Tuckerman High School; Noah, 13, who just completed his final year at Tuckerman Middle School; and Asher, 4, who will attend Tuckerman preschool in the fall.
Jim is a member of the Jackson County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, the Jackson County Farm Bureau Rice Committee, Tuckerman Church of Christ and the National Corn Growers Association and is a founding member of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society.
Brandy is a member of the Tuckerman Church of Christ, where she has taught Sunday School for more than 17 years, the Arkansas Board of Examiners of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, and the American Speech Language Hearing Association and is a founding member of the Trails to Tuckerman Historical Society.
FARMING ROLLS MANY OCCUPATIONS INTO ONE
“I believe it is very special that our family has been able to keep the Young family farm continuing to operate since it was begun, when my father and mother started with the purchase of the first 40 acres in 1947,” Tommy said. “Our farm is a close-knit operation, which is very obvious by the way we live. …
“I will repeat what I said 18 years ago in a newspaper article: Why do I love farming so much? It is the only occupation on Earth that challenges you every day. It is the only occupation that encompasses all occupations combined. For example, a farmer is a mechanic, doctor, stockbroker, psychiatrist, accountant, salesman, chemist, lawyer, meteorologist, carpenter, plumber, electrician, teacher and gambler. Need I say more? Farming is the greatest occupation on Earth, and I love it.”