Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame inducts new honorees

Jessie “J.D.” Vaught of Horatio, Arkansas, a pioneer in contract livestock production in the state, was thrilled to learn a few months ago that he would be inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. He passed away in late 2022, but not without knowing that he and his life’s work would be celebrated.

Recently, he was posthumously inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Little Rock Convention Center. His daughter Carla Vaught, a longtime Extension agent with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, accepted the award on his behalf.

Four people were inducted, including Ellis Bell of Forrest City, a fourth-generation farmer who owns and operates an Arkansas Century Farm; Bert Greenwalt of Jonesboro, Arkansas State University professor of agricultural economics; Rice farmer Chris Isbell of Humnoke, the first to grow Koshihikari rice outside of Japan; and Steve Stevens of Tillar, a longtime cotton farmer who was an early adopter of computerized-hole selection for irrigation and the Cotton Management program.