The History of Rocking B Farms
For many years, Donald and Debbie have been talking about moving out of California. In 1986, on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, they fell in love with Fort Smith, Arkansas (actually it was Alma). The climate was miserable but the scenery was breathtaking. Everything was green and there was a lot of water (ponds, lakes, rivers, streams). About 5 years later they began to get serious and Donald conducted extensive research of all 50 states.

This research included obtaining tax rates (state income tax, real estate, and sales tax to name the primary ones) and ranked all 50 states according to their tax rate. Then he reviewed multiple real estate companies listings to obtain a fair cross section of real estate prices (remember, this was not done by computer then). These were averaged and combined with the tax rate to establish a new ranking. Then, the current (1986) cost of living figures as well as quality of life (as provided by Money magazine) and the rankings were again adjusted. Then personal issues were considered (climate, local, knowledge, etc.) and the rankings were weighted and adjusted. Finally, all rankings were considered separately and combined to arrive at a final ranking. A three state area was chosen, and included Arkansas, Tennesse, and Oklahoma. While not in the top ten, they were about 13th, 14th and 15th but it was an area they were very interested in with potential for making a living.

Then things got serious. Due to the potential of Donald having eye sight problems, it was decided that they needed to do something as soon as possible. While they had always wanted to purchase land, they had not decided to do anything with the land. As it did not seem practical to just own land and a house, Donald & Debbie started considering what they wanted to do with the land. They considered crop farming, but neither felt they had green enough thumbs. Then they considered raising livestock but did not think they could afford that much land. At the time, there was a "fad", Ostrich. Donald obtained as much information as possible and started researching Ostrich. While he knew that it was not a good time to purchase (it was the breeders market and breeding pairs were ,000) he learned enough to know it was a good market and did not require a lot of land.

By 1994 Donald & Debbie knew they wanted to raise Ostrich for slaughter, and wanted to do it on a farm in the Fort Smith area. Donald contacted several real estate agents in the Fort Smith area, and, while Debbie was not able to join him, he and his sister, Dorene, visited Fort Smith in September of 1993. Donald then told Debbie of the trip and they decided they wanted to concentrate on the Poteau, Oklahoma area (Eastern Oklahoma, southwest of Fort Smith). Just after Thanksgiving of 1998 they bought over 20 acres between Heavener and Wister, Oklahoma where they live today.

Family Members
Donald still commutes to California. Staying in California two weeks then returning to the farm for two weeks. His employer has been very cooperative as this arrangement benefits both his employer and Donald.

Debbie semi-retired, leaving the nursing profession after more than 20 years. She now works at the WalMart Super Center in Poteau where she can make a little money, get out of the house, and meet people.

Danielle is attending Kiamichi Technology Center in Poteau getting various computer certifications and also works at WalMart, but only part-time.

The Bakers have several pets, including a wolf. NaKiTa has been in the family about 5 years, since she was only 6 weeks old. She is 45% Russian wolf, 40% Northern wolf, and 15% Malmute. She is really a member of the family. Tweety and Sylvester are cockateils, Tweety is just over a year old and Sylvester is just under a year old. Smokey the cat is less than a year old, and Spunky is the newest member of the family, he is a Yorky and is less than 6 months old.

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