Though he had no experience raising chickens, Boyd said the idea of owning his own business was intriguing to him, so in November 2010, he bought the farm (not literally) and received his first flock of chickens in January 2011. He held a variety of jobs after that before settling in at Arkansas Mill Supply in Pine Bluff, a company that sells industrial supplies.Ībout 17 years into his job at Arkansas Mill Supply, Boyd said he learned that his uncle and aunt, Robert and Pam Woolley, were wanting to sell their poultry farm just a short distance from where he grew up on Woolley Road at Woodlawn. That kind of notoriety is what led to Boyd along with his wife, Diane, and his children, Bret and Delaney, being named the 2021 Cleveland County Farm Family of the Year.īoyd said he never saw himself becoming a poultry farmer.Īfter graduating from Woodlawn High School in 1986, Boyd went to the University of Arkansas at Monticello to earn a marketing degree.
Since then, Oklahoma State University has asked to use the piece as well. It was such a unique idea that the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture caught wind of it and wrote a statewide article about it promoting the use of solar power in agriculture. Last year, Boyd installed an array of solar panels at his 42-acre poultry farm at Woodlawn to offset the power used by not only his six broiler houses that are under contract with Tyson, but three dwellings as well. Pictured (left to right) are the Boyds’ son, Bret Boyd, and his wife, Kaitlyn Diane and Stephen Boyd the Boyd’s daughter, Delaney, and her husband, Kolton Barnes Stephen Boyd’s brother-in-lawn and farm assistant David Ferguson and Stephen’s parents, Jimmie and Sylvia Boyd. CLEVELAND COUNTY FARM FAMILY OF THE YEAR – The Stephen and Diane Boyd Family of Woodlawn, a contract grower for Tyson with six broiler houses at Woodlawn, is the 2021 Cleveland County Farm Family of the Year. WOODLAWN – While Stephen Boyd has only been a poultry producer for a little more than 10 years, he’s already becoming somewhat of a trend setter among his peers.