Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1471258
2022 Farm Family Salute 3 June 2022 2022 Benton County Farm Family Photos by Alan Cruz Benton County: Pigeon Family Farm By Randy Rice Out on AR 43 in Siloam Springs, you will find Benton County's 2022 Farm Family of the Year, Jim and Michele Pigeon. Tucked in the northwest corner of town almost on the Oklahoma border, the farm sits on 290 acres. For Jim and Michele, the joy of farming is a direct result of the fruits of their labor. "We love the rewarding feeling of seeing something grow a develop into a viable and useful product," Jim said. "Whether it's watching our kids grow into respectful and responsible adults, the flowers that bloom and bring joy to people, the vegetable transplants that will become or produce a food source for the customer, to the baby calf or chick that thrives in the environment we provide." And on the Pigeon farm, there are a lot of things growing all the time. eir nursery stock is a colorful collection of verdant products. Every year they produce about 1,000 flats of vegetable starts, 3,000 flats of annual budding plants, 4,000 pots of perennial plants, 1,200 hanging baskets and 500 other miscellaneous planters. "In January of 2022 we increased our nursery square footage of indoor growing space by 6,720 square feet, an increase of nearly 130% over our previous space," Jim said. " e nursery stock is marketed at our retail location about two miles north of Siloam Springs on Hwy 43. Sixty acres of our farm is also dedicated to hay production. at yields 300 4 x 5 foot bales per year." Jim and Michele also employ special practices that contribute to protecting the environment and the conservation of soil, water and energy. "In the nursery we have used black plastic barrels filled with water during the cold months of the year to act as a heat sink," Jim said. "It adds mass to the greenhouse environment which absorbs heat during the warmer days and releases it during the cooler times helping to reduce the fuel needed to maintain the optimum growing temperatures." Continued on page 4