The Tarkington Family: John Ed Tarkington Still Sees Promise in Every Season

As the seasons turn once again, John Ed Tarkington is doing exactly what he’s done most of his life: bringing in another crop, his 60th.

And like Tarkington, Farmers & Merchants Bank, the family’s banking partner since 1981, is marking eight decades rooted in Arkansas. For both, the milestones are less about looking back than about continuing to show up, season after season.

Tarkington farms 1,500 acres in Almyra, raising rice, soybeans and corn. His family’s history in the region reaches back to 1902, when his great-grandfather moved from Illinois and bought 400 acres to farm rice. Over time, changing water and soil conditions pushed parts of the family elsewhere, but Tarkington’s mother kept 160 acres of the original holdings. “That’s what we started with,” he said.

He began farming in 1966, with the help of his father. For the first 20 years, he farmed with his dad while building a life with his wife, Beverly, whom he married in 1968. She was central to the operation from the beginning.

“She’s been with me all the way for 58 years, keeping the books, writing the checks, running the errands, cooking the meals, raising the kids,” he said. “And at 75, she is always ready to help with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren where needed. She’s an amazing woman and very dedicated to her family.”

Around 1986, the Tarkingtons and their two sons, Sam — now a member of the Farmers and Merchants Board of Directors — and Will, began farming together as Triple T Farms. It was a 23-year run that ended after a tornado caused more than $1 million in farm damage in 2008.

“That’s when the decisions were made, because we had to rebuild so much stuff, that it was a good time to separate, and the boys go their way and us go our way,” Tarkington said. It was a practical move, but while the business changed, the family did not. At harvest, he said, they still help one another, keeping a shared legacy alive.

Today, both sons farm thousands of acres, while Tarkington continues his own operation with Beverly and longtime employee Greg Wright, whom he credits as a major reason he’s still farming at 80. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and uncle, Spencer Tarkington, a sixth-generation farmer, has been involved in the family farm since a young age,farming with his father, Sam, and having Kwack Smackers Guide service. Tarkington’s great-grandchildren are coming on to secure the seventh generation.

“With God’s blessing, on this land we have raised a family, made a living and had a wonderful life,” he said. “I pray the future holds the same for us all.”

For all the history, Tarkington is clear-eyed about the present. Farming is in another hard season, dogged by rising costs and weak commodity prices. “We’re staying above the water, but we’re having to paddle a little harder,” he said. Farmers have little control over what they’re paid, even as expenses rise. His answer is the same as it’s always been: take care of equipment, avoid unnecessary spending and keep moving forward.

That steadiness has shaped his view of Farmers and Merchants Bank. The family began banking there 45 years ago and found what Tarkington described as a dependable partner — a bank that understood agriculture, knew the family’s circumstances and stood with them over time. He’s appreciative of the people behind the relationship. “Kirk Vansandt is one of the best bankers we’ve ever had,” Tarkington said. “He knows our situation, and we’re very thankful for him and other people who have helped us like that.”

Tarkington said he has no plans to retire as long as he can still contribute, and he expects the family to continue farming well into the future. That optimism is rooted not only in what the family has built, but also in what draws him to the land year after year.

“I like the seasons. I like the outdoors. I like watching things grow and mature,” he said. “And the seasons mean a lot to me, because change — it just makes it interesting. And all the seasons hold promise.”