[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17721]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING THE WEST FAMILY

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I recognize the West Family 
of Prairie Grove as they celebrate 150 years in Arkansas farming. I 
commend them for achieving this significant milestone. As a seventh-
generation Arkansan and farmer's daughter, and as chairman of the 
Senate Agriculture Committee, I understand firsthand and appreciate the 
hard work and contributions of our farm families. I am proud to share 
the story of the West Family Farm with you today.
  One hundred and fifty years ago, Robert J. West homesteaded land two 
miles north of Prairie Grove, AR, in a community called Viney Grove 
after moving to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1860.
  On December 7, 1862, the family watched from the hilltop of their 
farm as the Battle of Prairie Grove played out in the valley less than 
a mile away. Union soldiers used their home as a make-shift hospital 
following the bloody battle. Historical records indicate that the West 
Farm was even considered as a location for the University of Arkansas 
before it was founded in Fayetteville in 1871.
  Generation after generation, the West family has dedicated itself to 
becoming a successful Arkansas farming operation. Current owner and 
operator Randy West has lived and worked on the farm his whole life, 
just as his father, grandfather and great grandfather did before him. 
He has committed his life to improving the farm's profitability, 
sustainability and efficiency while raising a family with the lessons 
and values of rural living.
  Randy and his wife Cheryl work together on the farm as they operate a 
Bermuda grass hay business that produces between 50,000 and 70,000 
square bales annually on the farm's 455 total acres. They also run a 
poultry operation consisting of three broiler houses.
  In 1991, the farm was recognized as the Washington County Farm Family 
of the Year and the Northwest District Farm Family of the Year. In 
2003, the farm was recognized by Tyson Foods as one of five national 
Environmental Stewardship Award winners for its commitment to best 
management practices. Tyson Foods continually uses the farm as a model 
for environmental stewardship.
  A lot has changed in Prairie Grove and in northwest Arkansas over the 
past 150 years, but the West Family Farm remains a constant. From the 
time Robert J. West founded the farm on the dawn of the Civil War, 
through the great depression in the 1930s, to the modern age of 
agriculture in the 2000s, the West Farm has withstood the test of time 
and has remained committed to preserving the farming way of life.
  Arkansas's farm families are critical to our nation's economic 
stability. We must work to continue the farm family tradition, so 
families such as the West Family are able to maintain their livelihoods 
and continue to help provide the safe, abundant, and affordable food 
supply that feeds our own country and the world and that is essential 
to our own economic stability. I salute the West Family and all 
Arkansas farm families for their hard work and dedication. 

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