Tchula farmer Roy Lee Brown says he learned about hard work early in life, and he still doesn’t mind doing several things at once.
Brown, who farms 600 acres in Tchula, has grown cotton and soybeans for years and also grows vegetables. In addition, he works at Canadian National Railway and runs a trucking business that hauls grain.
Farming can be frustrating sometimes, as it was during last year’s bad weather. But he likes the challenge of it.
“It’s in the blood,” Brown said. “There’s something about farming I just like. I just like to see cotton and soybeans grow and mature.”
On Wednesday, Brown was named the state Farmer of the Year during the Small Farmers Conference in Jackson. The event, now in its 19th year, was conducted by the Alcorn State University Ex-tension Program and the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives (MAC).
Myra Bryant, executive director of MAC, said Brown was honored for his exemplary farm practices and the diversity and sustainability of his operation. The award included a $1,300 cash prize.
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Brown, 52, was born on the farm where he works now, and he started working young. At the age of 11 or 12, he could pick 100 pounds of cotton a day.
“We’d get out of school, we had to put our books down and hit the field,” he recalled.
After graduating from S.V. Marshall High School, he went on to Mississippi Valley State University, where he completed a degree in vocational industrial education in 1980.
At the time, he planned to teach auto mechanics, and he did some substitute teaching at Greenwood High and practice teaching at Leflore County High. But he decided agriculture appealed to him more.
“I figured I could do better on the farm,” he said. “It was a family farm, and I liked to farm.”
He already had received plenty of guidance from his father, Dave Brown, who gave him 40 acres to farm on his own after college in return for compensation for the seeds and some other expenses.
“I guess he just figured I was grown and I needed some money, so he just let me farm the 40 acres,” he said.
Brown continued to farm with his brother, Darron, after his father died in 1981. The two brothers still work together, along with Roy Lee Brown’s son, Markee Harris.
Brown said last year was the worst he’s seen as a farmer, and old-timers have told him it was the worst since 1957. Most of his cotton and soybeans were damaged, although he was able to sell some soybeans.
“It hurt us pretty bad, financial-wise, but you just can’t give up,” he said. “Got to keep trying to move on.”
He said he was fortunate to have his truck-driving job at the railroad, where he has worked for 14 years. He also stays busy all year with Brown’s Transportation, a business he started that transports grain to the fields. He saw a need for that service three years ago after many farmers opted to switch from cotton to grains.
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Having grown up on homegrown peas, okra, greens and other vegetables, Brown also wants to promote healthy eating. He is active in Mileston Co-Op, where his father also was a member.
“After all the older members passed away, some of the younger members, we came up with the idea to raise vegetables and sell vegetables,” he said. “We’ve been doing that for about 10 years.”
They make the vegetables available for purchase with USDA vouchers and also take them to senior citizens’ homes. Brown said seniors who grew up on good food but can’t get out to buy groceries appreciate this.
He said Alcorn State and MAC are working on a grant proposal for a summer work program in which young people could make some money helping to grow vegetables.
He likened this to the assistance WIN Job Centers provide for companies to hire young people. “We wanted to talk with Congressman Bennie Thompson and see if we can get that same type of program for kids,” he said, “so they’ll be able to have money to buy clothes and little things in the summertime, instead of just being on the streets and not having anything to do.”
He hopes such a program would also encourage good nutrition.
“When we were growing up, we couldn’t afford to go to McDonald’s and Church’s Chicken and all like that. We had to eat what our parents cooked,” he said. “We weren’t overweight, because we would get out and work, but now kids get out of school, they want to go to McDonald’s; then they want to go watch TV. Don’t have anything to do.”
Setting an example for young people is important, Brown said. If they see their parents are relying on welfare and aren’t doing anything, they’ll be less inclined to work hard themselves. But if a parent has earned a college degree, a child is more motivated to do the same, he said.
“We want to create jobs so they can grow up and want to work — want to work and want to have something,” he said.
