Cord family receives county farming honor
CORD — Bobby and Amanda Dunehew, along with their sons, Samuel, 13, and Michael, 11, are carrying on the family tradition of farming.
Amanda’s great-great-grandfather David Samuel Anderson and his wife, Margaret Elizabeth, homesteaded part of the land where the Dunehews now live. David Anderson was a blacksmith and did not farm, but future generations did.
Amanda, 41, who is a daughter of the late David and Emily Anderson, has one sister, LeeAnn Bullington of Vilonia.
The Andersons were named Independence County Farm Family in 1993.
“Dad left the farm to me and my sister,” Amanda said, adding that she and Bobby manage the farm, and her sister keeps the books for the farm.
“I was shocked when Bobby and I learned we were named Independence County Farm Family of the Year for 2020. It was bittersweet. I just wanted to tell my dad. He would have been proud of us. We want to continue farming as he would have,” Amanda said.
“This is his home that we are living in,” she said, noting that she and Bobby remodeled it before they moved in. “After my mom died, [my dad] remarried. … Rita Faye Collins Anderson is my stepmother. She moved from here after he died and now lives in Hazen.”
The Dunehews have a cow/calf operation of 130 cows and their calves and raise hay on 555 acres. They have several blocks of land that remain in timber and are used for wildlife.
“We vaccinate, band and wean our calves for 45-plus days,” Amanda said. “We consider the market and sell our value-added calves at the local sale barn, Cattlemen’s Livestock Exchange.”
Bobby, 41, did not grow up farming but has been around farmers most of his life. He and his parents, Carol Wood and the late Rick Dunehew, moved to Cord from Illinois when Bobby was 5.
“Amanda and I have known each other since kindergarten,” Bobby said, smiling. “We dated all through high school. I started helping her dad on the farm. … I’ve helped out on a lot of farms around the Cord area.”
Amanda said, “Farming is really the only life that I have known. My family row-cropped and had a cow/calf operation. Thinking back, I would be the fourth-generation farmer in our family.”
Her great-grandparents, Matthew and Oretha Anderson, and her grandparents, Don and Altha Modene Anderson, also farmed in the area.
“Growing up, I started out checking cows and helping with them; then as I got older, I began helping in the fields,” Amanda said. “I also started my own herd of cattle as a teenager.”
After high school, Amanda continued her education at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where she received a degree in agriculture business. She also continued growing her cattle herd, purchasing some pasture ground and helping her family farm while she was in college.
Bobby continued his education at Black River Technical College in Pocahontas, where he received certification as a diesel mechanic.
Amanda said Bobby is now a self-employed diesel mechanic.
“Therefore, with his services, he helps many farmers in our area,” Amanda said. “This is very important to our cow/calf operation. He is able to repair anything that is needed with our operation.”
The Dunehews were married in 2002.
Amanda said they continued to raise cattle after they married. Bobby worked for Williams Equipment and, later, Greenway.
“In 2006, we had Samuel, then Michael in 2008. Our family was blessed with two wonderful boys,” she said.
“Life happened, and in 2008, we
chose to sell our cattle and sell our land. We continued to raise our boys on my dad’s farm and help him when we needed to,” Amanda said.
“In 2012, Bobby stepped out on faith and began working for himself as a diesel mechanic. He started out helping local farmers with their equipment repairs,” she said.
“Then in 2017, we thought it was time to try to get back in the cattle business. We purchased some heifers from my dad and rented some farm ground from him. What we didn’t know was we would soon be jumping back into the cattle business with both feet,” Amanda said.
“In the fall of 2017, my dad was killed in an accident on the farm. This was one of the hardest days of my family’s life,” she said. “My dad went home to be with Jesus that day. He left this world doing something he enjoyed.
“We give God all the glory [for any success on the farm]. The Lord has been with us through every step of this journey that our family has gone on. We have had so many people who have encouraged us and have helped us along the way. We wouldn’t choose any other way of life. As a child, I hoped that one day I would get married and raise our children on a farm of our own, and here we are.”
Samuel and Michael are home-schooled. Both are involved in 4-H and show chickens, and they also sell eggs. Both boys are part of the Cedar Ridge School District’s archery team, and Samuel is a member of the Cedar Ridge trap team.
The Dunehews support FFA activities as well. They are active at Cord Baptist Church, where Bobby is a deacon and Sunday School teacher, and Amanda assists in teaching Sunday School.
Bobby is a member of the Hopewell Cemetery Board of Directors and the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association, and is a firefighter with the Cord Volunteer Fire Department.
Amanda was part of remodeling teams at Cord Baptist Church, is a 4-H leader with the Cedar Ridge 4-H Club and is a member of the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association.
Bobby and Amanda both helped build a church in Disney, Oklahoma, with Volunteer Christian Builders.