The Sloan and Rhonda Hampton family of Stuttgart (South Arkansas County) is the Southeast District Farm Family of the Year. They farm 1,600 acres of rice and soybeans, have 3,000 acres of wildlife habitat, and 500 acres of Conservation Reserve Program land. Since beginning to farm 22 years ago, Sloan has increased his acreage from 4,520 acres to 5,080 acres.
The 3,000 acres of wildlife habitat is an integral part of the Hampton farm as fields and reservoirs are leased for hunting. The income from wildlife leases is reinvested into the farming operation. Sloan has increased his soybean yield by 100 percent and his rice yield by 80 percent through the use of newer technologies, including variable rate technology which he is now using 100 percent of the time.
In 2013, Hampton Farms was designated a Century Farm by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture for having continuously farmed the same land since 1890. Sloan stated he is “proud to continue to have this opportunity to continue this way of life.”
Sloan serves on the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. He is also a member of Riceland Foods, the Arkansas County Co-op, the Tri-Bayou Irrigation Conservation District and the Bayou Meto Methodist Church. Sloan and Rhonda have been married for five years and have a 3-year-old daughter, Avery Claire, who loves to ride the tractor with Sloan.
