The Scott and Allison Armbruster Family of Burlington received the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee’s District Seven Farm and Ranch Family Recognition during the organization’s 77th annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 17 in Norman.
The Armbrusters farm in Alfalfa County just south of Burlington. The family has 1,200 acres where they grow alfalfa, wheat, soybeans and milo and care for a cow/calf herd. Perhaps most importantly, the couple raised four children on the farm, where Scott is the fourth generation to care for the land.
“It’s a family thing,” Scott said. “It’s hard to describe to somebody, really, what farming is. It’s a job, like anything else – there’s good days and bad days. But we’ve enjoyed it.”
Scott and Allison returned to the family farm full-time to take over from Scott’s father in the late 1990s. Scott had been working an off-farm job in the Dallas area, but spent time commuting between Dallas and Burlington to help his father with farm work. After several years of making the nearly six-hour trip to help during critical times of the year, the family decided to make the move to Alfalfa County.
“I basically thought that if we don’t try, we’ll never know,” Scott said of his decision to return to the farm full-time. “I worked a job and there wasn’t a lot of job satisfaction there, and here it’s all by your own hands.
“You make your happiness wherever you’re at. I think I’m most happy here, and I can’t imagine going somewhere else and doing something else.”
Allison, who is originally from the Dallas area, said she quickly came to love the rural way of life.
“It was quite a different way of life,” Allison said of the family move. “I wouldn’t do anything different, it’s been good. It’s been a good place to raise our kids. I wouldn’t take anything back – I would do it all over again the same way.”
The couple’s four children, Sarah, Ashley, Heather and Jonathan, all helped out on the farm and showed livestock as they were growing up. Today, Scott and Allison have children who have returned to the area to plant their own roots, and their son, Jonathan, is considering a return the farm himself as the fifth generation of Armbrusters to care for the land.
Allison works as a radiological technologist in Alva, and she also serves on the Burlington School Board. Scott is president of the Burlington Cooperative, and the family are active members of the Kiowa Southern Baptist Church.
OKFB’s Farm and Ranch Family Recognition program honors a farm and ranch family in each of OKFB’s nine districts who upholds the best traditions of Oklahoma agriculture and rural Oklahoma as they raise food and fiber for our state and beyond.
“Our farm and ranch families play a vital role in growing food, caring for the land and making our rural communities vibrant,” said Kitty Beavers, 2018 OKFB WLC Chairman. “Our Women’s Leadership Committee is proud to recognize these families’ hard work and dedication to agriculture and Oklahoma. Each of these families is a tremendous asset to Oklahoma as they continue some of the best traditions our state knows.”
As part of their recognition, the family received a cash award along with a custom sign to hang at their farm gate.
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Annual Meeting is the organization’s largest yearly gathering of farmers and ranchers. At the event, members vote on grassroots policy, elect leaders and award outstanding individuals. OKFB has a presence in all 77 Oklahoma counties and serves as the voice of agriculture and the rural way of life. To learn more, visit www.okfarmbureau.org.
Download a high-resolution photo of the Armbruster family.
Suggested caption:
Scott and Allison Armbruster of Burlington were named the 2018 Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee’s Farm & Ranch Family Recognition recipients for District 7 at the organization’s awards banquet on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the 2018 OKFB annual meeting in Norman.
