LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Farm Bureau named an Arkansas County family the 2011 Arkansas Farm Family of the Year on Friday.
Heath and Betsy Long, who own Long Planting Co., a rice, soybean and wheat operation near Tichnor that consists of 2,230 acres of rented land, received the honor at a luncheon in Little Rock.
Heath Long is vice president of the Arkansas County Farm Bureau’s board of directors and volunteers with the Tichnor Volunteer Fire department. He is also a member of the Arkansas and USA rice councils.
Betsy Long teaches at Gillett Elementary School and serves in a number of capacities at Gillett United Methodist Church. The Longs have two daughters, Shelby, 9, and Sydney, 4.
Heath Long is a fourth-generation farmer and was raised on the family farm. After graduating from Arkansas State University in 1994 with a degree in agriculture, he returned home and became a partner with his parents and brother in Long Farms Inc.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
He married Betsy in 1998 and a year later formed Heath Long Farms. They continued to expand the operation over the next 12 years.
After Heath Long’s mother died in 2009, his father retired. He and his wife formed Long Planting Co. the next year.
“Heath and Betsy are another great example of the many successful and efficient family farming operations that exist in Arkansas,” said Andy Guffey, coordinator of the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program.
“By developing positive relationships with his landowners, Heath has been able to expand his operation over time. They are diligent protectors of the natural resources used in growing their crops, and are a prime model of a hard-working, multi-generation farm family,” Guffey said.