In farming, as in any business, attention to detail can mean the difference between success and failure. For Brian and Valerie Lindley of Randolph County, that philosophy has made their poultry and forestry operation one of the most successful in east-central Alabama and earned them recognition this year as the Alabama Farmers Federation’s Outstanding Young Farm Family in the Forestry Division.”We want to be the best at what we do,” Brian said. “We want to try to do all the little things. We have a couple of other businesses that we have operated, and we realize that money is made in the little things. If we focus on the small things on our farm, we feel like…it will let us rise above the normal competition.”Little projects that are paying big dividends at the Lindley farm include doing prescribed burning to improve wildlife habitat on their 82-acre timber operation, installing a new computer system in their two breeder hen houses and expanding their tree surgeon business by doing work in Florida and California. Brian, 30, admits managing three businesses can be demanding, but he says it’s rewarding to work in an occupation he loves.”Ever since I was old enough to walk I started going with (my grandfather) to his chicken houses,” Brian recalled. “I grew up loving it, and when I got out of school, I wanted to build two broiler houses–or four, or whatever I could get. As luck would have it, I ended up with two breeder houses, which is a lot more work.”Brian said it also was a big investment for a young man, who was fresh out of junior college.”I had to borrow a quarter of a million dollars, and I was 20 years old at the time. I had to grow up in a hurry,” Brian said. “They gave me 12 full weeks to build two breeder hen houses, but we were the first breeder farm built in this area in a long time, so we were kind of the guinea pigs. We had a lot of obstacles to overcome.”Ten years later, Brian and Valerie look back on those obstacles as learning opportunities, and while it was not easy building a new farm operation from scratch, they say the frustrations they had back then made their farm better. In fact, the poultry farm was so successful they were able to buy more land and start a small forestry operation.”We bought the timber operation in 1996, and 17 acres of the original 37 acres that we bought were in planted pines,” Brian said. “In 1998, we were able to buy more land, and that land actually joins Dad’s farm. He’s got 40 momma cows here that we help him with, and he helps us by picking up eggs, pulling wells, fixing augers–whatever needs to be done. He’s been a tremendous asset to us at this farm.”Today, the Lindleys have 32 acres of planted pines, 19 acres of hardwood timber and another 31 acres of mixed pine and hardwood forest. Brian and Valerie also own a tree service business that cleans up storm- and insect-damaged trees across the country.”That business has really grown over the last two years,” Brian said. “We started out doing storm work in Louisiana, and we’ve been to Raleigh, N.C., Lexington, Ky., and Virginia Beach, Va. Right now, we’ve got a crew out in California taking down bark beetle trees, and part of our crew is in Florida cleaning up from Hurricane Charley.”Unfortunately, the Lindleys also are putting their tree-thinning expertise to work at home. Recently, their pine plantation has fallen victim to a Southern pine beetle infestation, which Brian is working hard to control.”We’ve tried to thin our pines to control the pine beetle infestation, and we did a prescribed burn in March of this year,” Brian said. “We are going to try to do a prescribed burn every three years to control the underbrush and promote wildlife.”Besides generating income for the farm, Brian, who is an avid hunter, said he wants to maintain the timber operation because it adds aesthetic value to the farm and improves wildlife habitat. He has developed a “best management plan” with a local forester, and hopes to increase the wild turkey population on the farm and bring bobwhite quail back into the area.Meanwhile, the Lindleys stay busy managing their tree service business and breeder hen houses, which produce about 14,000 eggs a day during peak operation. Valerie, who teaches reading at Fruithurst Elementary School in Cleburne County, helps out on the farm in the summer months. She admits farming has been a learning experience for her.”I didn’t grow up on the farm, and I really knew nothing about farming until I married Brian,” she said. “It’s been interesting. The first time I had to pick up eggs was fun, but I soon got the hang of it. I’ve helped clean out the chicken houses, and I’ve been involved in cleaning, washing down and replacing the nesting pads. I just naturally took to it. It was never a question of not wanting to do it. I just jumped in there and got started.”When they are not farming, the Lindleys are active in their local church, and Brian holds leadership positions in several agriculture and forestry organizations. He also is on Congressman Mike Rogers’ Agriculture Advisory Committee and currently serves as chairman of the Randolph County Young Farmers.”We got involved with the Farmers Federation about four years ago, and we’ve grown to really love the Young Farmers,” he said. “That first meeting we learned there were a lot of moral things that Alfa stood for that we were very impressed with. Because we are very involved in our church, it meant a lot to us as a young farming couple.”