In the pantheon of fresh produce, there are staples – corn, potatoes, broccoli – and then there are showstoppers. Like what farmer Mike McKillip is planning to seed this spring on his farm in Madison County, Arkansas.
“We are starting with Badger Flame Beets, Cosmic Carrots and the ‘Habanada,’ a heatless Habanero Pepper. They have big color and a big flavor profile that chefs love,” he says of his plans for Kings River Farm. “The Northwest Arkansas market hasn’t seen anything like it.”
Mike’s farming operation is aided by a pilot grant from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Arkansas Grown program.
Created with support from the Walton Family Foundation, the pilot grant offers funding for equipment and other infrastructure to smaller producers committed to increasing capacity for wholesale fruit and vegetable production in the region.
“Agriculture is the number one industry in our state,” says Karen Reynolds, program manager for Arkansas Grown. “Fresh produce plays a big role and is also in high demand. As growers work to fill that demand, they are also navigating challenges like droughts, historic flooding, labor issues and wholesale requirements.”
Access to capital is a stubborn problem for growers, who operate on small margins. They are often hesitant to take out loans. Karen says the grant program is unique in the state, helping farmers bridge the gap from field to larger scale distribution.
“Costs always roll downhill to farmers. Direct grants help farmers get exactly what they need, when they need it,” she says. Of the 25 grants provided in 2022, applications ranged from irrigation and coolers to caterpillar tunnels and walk-behind machinery.
For as long as Mike can remember, he has always been interested in farming. “In fifth grade, I sold greeting cards in the hopes that I might buy a horse,” he says. But as a child growing up in Chicago, life – and lack of a backyard – had other plans for him.
Instead, he graduated college and enlisted in the Marine Corps. On Christmas Day, 1990, he and hundreds of other Marines touched down in Saudi Arabia as the United States prepared for the Gulf War. The injuries he sustained landed Mike in a coma and he eventually received a life-saving heart transplant.
“I was a miracle. But lying in that hospital bed, plugged into the wall, I felt like my dream of farming was slipping through my fingers, I couldn’t do anything but use my brain,” says Mike. While bedridden, he completed his Ph.D. coursework in business, eventually relocating to Florida.
Mike describes his time in Florida as being “hot and bored.” “I really wanted to be in nature, and after three years of searching, I found what I was looking for in Northwest Arkansas.” He bought Kings River Farm sight unseen.
A newcomer to agriculture, Mike enlisted his son Sion, then studying engineering in Oklahoma, to relocate. Sion joined the Farm School program at the University of Arkansas’s Center for Arkansas Farms and Food alongside Mike.
“I was concerned about my physical capacity to complete the program, but together, we make quite the team – he would outwork me in the field and I would help him with his homework.” Sion is now continuing his engineering degree at the University of Arkansas, while working with his father on the farm.
Having his son by his side has also helped Mike look to the future. He set up a management succession plan for his land when he is no longer able to work.
At Farm School, Mike and Sion were given the tools to create a successful business. “CAFF reinforced a lot of what I already knew about farming and business and made me more confident. It’s led us to take on some more cutting-edge agricultural practices like weed mapping and eliminating pests more naturally.”
“Without the funding, we wouldn’t have been able to get this farm off the ground."
CAFF is also where Mike first learned of the Arkansas Grown pilot grant. He has used his grant to purchase a walk-behind tractor, high-quality submersible water pump and solar array.
“Without the funding we wouldn’t have been able to get this farm off the ground,” says Mike. “This equipment is going to allow us to cover as much acreage as we want, it’s incredible.”
As growing season begins, Mike has found the farming community he has been searching for his entire life. “
We have a monthly gathering called ‘Beers with Farmers,’ where we get to network, share what’s working and trade resources,” he says. “We know where to go for what we need. It’s just a wonderful thing.”
