From Family Values to Family Legacy

By Claire Kausch

In an ever-changing world, two things are for certain: we need food, and we need hard-working, driven people to grow it. Derrick Young and his uncle, Thomas Armstrong, are fourth and third generation farmers respectively, and their hope is that their passion for agriculture is passed down for many more generations to come. But they know that this passion isn’t inherent, it’s inherited.

Being Raised on Hard Work

The pair own and operate Armstrong and Young Farm Services, LLC in Brinkley, Arkansas, more than 1,941 acres of land, but their experience with farming goes all the way back to their childhoods. Both were born and raised on a farm and told stories of long, arduous hours spent working on their family operation and waking up early on weekdays to complete farm chores before they were dismissed to go to school. 

Young and Armstrong started their LLC after Young retired from his impressive two-decade career with the United States Marine Corps.

“When I reflect on the leadership aspects that were expected of me in the military, I realize that my grandfather already instilled many of them in me at a young age: waking up early, rising to the occasion to do the work that was needed,” Young explained. “The Marines had just fine-tuned those traits that were already there.”