RISON - When it comes to agriculture in Cleveland County, most farm families will fall into one or a combination of three categories: poultry, cattle or timber.And while Jason Boyd and his family does fall into one of those categories for his selection as the 2024 Cleveland County Farm Family of the Year, his experience in agriculture is one of the most diversified of anyone ever selected for the annual honor.Jason, along with his wife, Ashley, and his children Haley, Taylor and Wyatt, were selected as the 2024 Farm Family of the Year for their cattle operation outside of Rison. A committee organized through the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension Service made the selection.The Boyds oversee a growing herd of cattle on 79 acres located off Mt. Elba Road south of Rison. While Jason's herd of 27 head of Angus cattle is his primary farming interest, he also has a few hair sheep he keeps on about two acres of his farm as well as about 40 chickens, some horses and four hives of bees.And while much of Jason's hands-on farming experience has been working cattle with his father, the late George Boyd, his day job has exposed him to a wide range of agricultural operations.A 1999 graduate of Rison High School, Boyd received his bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2003 and has put that degree to work in a variety of ways since then.He is currently in charge of the dairy infection program for the Arkansas Department of Health, a job that requires him to visit dairy farms across the state to help dairy producers keep their farms in compliance with health regulations.Prior to that, Boyd was an agriculture manager for the Arkansas Department of Corrections' Cummings unit where he oversaw the prison's poultry and swine operations. He also worked for the Arkansas Department of Natural Resources, and was a poultry tech for a Rison poultry business before that.Jason said he gr...
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