Yangs Named County Farm Family Of The Year

YANGS NAMED COUNTY’S FARM FAMILY OF THE YEAR

SUMMERS — David Yang was a workaholic, working two jobs, and his wife, Cindy, had an 8 to 5 job. Living in a suburb of Minneapolis, Cindy Yang said she constantly worried about the safety of her children and wanted to spend more time with them.

She had heard about farming possibilities in Arkansas through the Asian community and after observing her brother’s chicken farm in Gravette, thought, “I can do this for my kids.”

So, nine years ago, David and Cindy Yang loaded up their children, who were about 11, 9, 8 and 6 yearsold at the time, and moved to a 50- acre farm west of Summers, near the Oklahoma state line. They’ve been here since May 2004.

“As long as it pays for itself and we can be there for our kids, we’ll do it,” Cindy Yang said.

Their farm is called the “Cindy and David Farm,” and the Yangs and their children — Maly, 20, PaFour, 18, Johnny, 17, and Pao, 15 — recently were named the Washington County Farm Family of the Year.

Cindy Yang said she did not even know that such a program existed so she was caught completely off-guard when Berni Kurz, county extension agent, called her about coming to the farm.

“I was quite surprised,” Cindy Yang said.

Kurz came out to make the presentation and now the farm family is eligible for district farm family of the year and if selected for that, then the family will be considered for state farm family of the year.

Johnny Gunsaulis, county extension agent, said the Yangs are representative of a group of people who have moved into northwest Arkansas over the past 20 years.

“They are kinda pioneers,” Gunsaulis said, pointing out many of the Asian families who moved to this area to raise chickens did not know anything about farming. “The Yangs are a family who has done a great job with their operation. The fact that they’ve made it and continue to make it is a testament to the strength of their family. It’s kinda like the American dream.”

Worries About Children

Cindy Yang moved from Laos to America with her parents in 1984. David Yang moved to America from Thailand. They met in Minnesota and have been married 21 years.

She said she worried about her children living in a suburb of Minneapolis because of gangs and other crime in the area. She would leave for work each morning and wait to receive a notice that the children had set the home security alarm and left to walk about three blocks to school.

Each afternoon, she knew they were back home when the security system had been disarmed and they called her at work.

“It was pretty hard,” Cindy Yang said and they began to look at other options for their family.

She and her husband first came to Arkansas in 2002 and looked at land for farming with a realtor. Her thought at the time, Cindy Yang said, was “this is not for me.”

She then returned in 2003 and stayed with her brother and watched what all was involved with his chicken farm. After observing her brother on a daily basis, Cindy Yang said she thought she could do it.

They interviewed with Peterson Farms for a new farm construction and began looking at land. When she saw the property for sale near Summers, Cindy Yang said she knew it was the place.

“I think we’re going to have to start chicken farming,” Yang said. “I didn’t want to continue living in the big city.”

The Yangs built six chicken houses in four months on the land, from January-April 2004. Cindy Yang said they had to monitor the construction and would leave Minnesota at 10 p.m. on a Friday night, drive all night, “do our business” on Saturday and then drive home the next day, so they could be at work Monday.

Family Moves To Arkansas

When the houses were finished, the family moved to Arkansas. Their first batch of chickens, 162,000 one-day-old chicks, arrived the next month. They received 27,000 chicks per house.

The first year, Cindy Yang said she questioned their decision to chicken farm because of the smell and the hot, hard work. She was used to dressing up for work. Now, she was hot and dirty.

They didn’t really know what to do at first.

“It was really hard. I didn’t know what’s a good bird or what’s not. We stayed close to our service technician. He gave me a lot of good points and you just learn as you go,” she said.

The Yangs now raise birds for Simmons Farms (Simmons purchased Peterson Farms). They receive five batches of chicks each year and raise the chicks for an average of 42 days to a target weight of about 5.5 pounds. Simmons sends a truck to pick up the chickens and then the Yangs will take about three weeks to clean the houses and prepare to start all over again.

The Yangs know they made the right decision, she said.

The kids have been given responsibilities on the farm, whether it is making sure the chicks have enough food and water or carrying a bucket through the houses to pick up dead chicks, and Cindy and David Yang have been able to spend lots of time with their children.

“I’ve got my kids grown up the way I wanted,” Cindy Yang said. “They are responsible, had good academics and have been involved at school. I’m pretty happy I made a good decision.”

Children Like Country Life

Maly Yang was in sixth grade when she moved to Summers and started school in the Lincoln School District. She and her sister, PaFoua, are now students at the University of Arkansas. Maly is studying biology and pre-pharmacy and PaFoua is in the nursing program.

Maly Yang said she prefers the open space in Arkansas to the city life in Minneapolis, except for the smell. It takes her about 15 minutes each time to get used to the chicken smell, she says.

“I think it’s made our family grow personally,” Maly Yang said. “Instead of just being like a family, we’re each other’s best friends.”

Johnny Yang said he likes the weather in Arkansas and the quiet country side. He is glad the family moved to Arkansas, he said, because he gets to spend more time with his parents.

“We see them every morning, all day long,” Johnny Yang said and his mother replies, laughing, “It’s good that they like us.”

The youngest son, Pao, is involved in the FFA program at Lincoln High and his mother said he may be the one to continue with the farming life.

The others say probably not.

Pao is involved in horse judging and the leadership competitions with FFA.

Goals Being Met

The couple’s goals were to spend more time with their children, farm to benefit their kids’ future and see their children pursue higher education.

They’ve reached most of their goals and plan to continue to farm, Cindy Yang said.

“This is a big investment. We hope to retire here,” Cindy Yang said.

David Yang said the family really likes northwest Arkansas and all family members point to how friendly everyone is, compared to city life. Cindy Yang said she could not believe the number of people who would wave to her randomly as she was driving around in Arkansas.

David Yang added, “We really enjoy Northwest Arkansas.”

PHOTOS BY LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER The Yang family of Summers was named the 2013 Washington County Farm Family of the Year. Members of the family, who moved to Northwest Arkansas from Minnesota nine years ago, are PaFoua, 18, left, Cindy, Johnny, 17, David, Pao, 15, and Maly, 20. The...

Pao Yang, 15, checks to make sure the chicks have enough food. The Yangs raise 27,000 chickens in each of their six houses to a target weight of 5.5 pounds.

Cindy and David Yang inside one of their chicken houses. They have six houses and raise broilers for Simmons Farms. They own 50 acres and use some of the land for cattle and growing hay.

Cindy Yang looks for dead chickens in one of her chicken houses and places them in the bucket. This is one of the chores that her children help with on their chicken farm located on 50 acres west of Summers.