Farm Family Salute

By Randy Rice e Arkansas Farm Bureau has named Travis and Ashley Appel the 2023 Washington County Farm Family of the Year. For the past decade, the husband-and-wife team has owned and operated Appel Farms. ey started with just 10 acres and have more than doubled in size to 26 acres. "We both work full-time at the farm," Travis said. "We do not have other jobs outside of the farm. When we first started the farm, Ashley had a full-time job at an accounting firm, but for the past several years we have both only worked at the farm." e Appel's journey as farmers began in 2012 when Travis' service was over with the U.S. Marine Corps. "I went back to school at the University of Arkansas with the intention of getting a degree in turf management," he said. "I did an internship at another local farm that was growing strawberries and other produce. at piqued my interest in farming." So, in 2013, Travis decided to plant about a half-acre of strawberries. at same year, they also planted a half-acre of pumpkins. "I ended up getting my bachelor's degree in horticulture in 2015," Travis said. "We have grown from those two crops to now producing 15-20 different crops every year." When the Appels first started growing produce, they went to farmers markets on the weekends. Over the years they built a customer base from being a part of these markets and eventually were able to sell everything right at their farm. ey currently have Washington County: Appel Family Farm 2023 Farm Family Salute 28 June 2023

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