News Outstanding Young Farm Family – Soybean Division

Outstanding Young Farm Family – Soybean Division

Outstanding Young Farm Family – Soybean Division
July 26, 2005 |

In 1997, Benjamin Looney began his own farming operation with just 200 acres of cotton and 40 acres of soybeans after working on his family’s farm all of his life. After many difficulties his first few years, Benjamin’s operation has grown to include 740 acres of cotton, soybeans, corn and wheat.”My dad and I thought it would be best if I got my own separate acreage,” Benjamin said. “We work together, but we have separate farms.”Benjamin’s first year on his own, he lost his entire cotton crop to bad weather. The next four years he struggled through drought, but the young farmer has kept going. “It was very difficult to get over the first couple of years,” said Benjamin. “Just getting started and not having any luck with the weather was really a setback, but the last couple of years have made up for it.”The Looneys made it through the hard years by “having faith in God, and knowing that we were going to be able to pay our bills,” according to Benjamin’s wife, Miranda.Today, the Looneys’ perseverance is paying off. Last year, their 500 acres of cotton yielded 830 pounds per acre, and Benjamin also had a good crop on his 100 acres each of soybeans and corn and 40 acres of wheat. He has one employee, who happens to be the son of his father’s long-time farm hand. Miranda also usually helps around the farm, but with a five-year-old son, Colby, and a newborn, Clay, to tend to, Benjamin wonders about her availability this year. “I don’t know what we’re going to do this fall,” he laughed. “She normally helps in the spring with planting and, in the fall, she’s one of my module builders.”Benjamin sees an agricultural background as a benefit to his family’s future. “I think it is important to raise my family with the values that can only be taught on a farm. I also love the job of farming.”

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