Arkansas Agriculture Edition 26 : Page 12
Will the Unbroken be Cow Circle Charles Belk One cow. That’s all Charles and Joe Belk’s father had when he decided to start his farm on an undeveloped piece of land in rural Arkansas. “When he bought the land, there wasn’t even a road to get to his place,” Charles Belk said when describing his father’s determination. “He cleared the land with a team of mules and a hired man. Some of the farmers around here told him that he had just bought a frog pond that wouldn’t even grow frogs, much less anything else.” But that didn’t deter their father. He cleared the marshy land and built a home, including hand splitting the cedar shingles made from trees felled on his property. From just one cow, Belk Farms eventually grew into a thriving dairy farm. For many years, Belk Farms remained in the dairy business. In the early 1970s, a worldwide shortage of rice prompted the government to change its rice grower’s policy. Under the new policy, farmers who hadn’t previously been farming rice before the government freeze were allowed to get into the domestic rice farming business. The Belks saw this as a welcome opportunity to get out of the seven-day a week, 365 days a year business of dairy farming and get into a more seasonal and profitable business that best suited their marshy land. The Belk’s had a friend, a rice farmer nearby, who helped them in their transition into rice farming. The helping hands they received and the breaks they’d been given are values the Belk’s would always remember. When Joe and his wife faced difficult health issues, Charles didn’t feel he could replace his brother in the business with a hired helper. Charles and wife Mary had no children with whom to leave their part of the farm. Joe and his wife Judith’s four children had professional careers and no interest in farming. Charles and Joe decided it was time to sell the farm. The Belk’s father was an avid supporter of Heifer International (HI) for many years and passed on to his children his desire to help the hungry by providing them a means to support themselves. When the brothers first decided to liquidate the farm, Charles made his first call to HI to ask how he might donate the farm equipment to the HI Ranch. After evaluating the Belk’s equipment, it was determined that the ranch might only be able to use a portion of what they wanted to donate. It was then that they spoke 12 8 Arkansas Agriculture Arkansas Agriculture Heifer International
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