The Hickman Family Named 2008 Farmer of the Year
The Hickman family of Hickman Family Farms were the recipients of the 2008 Farmer of the Year Award during the 87th Annual Arizona Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Carefree, Arizona during an awards ceremony celebrating farmers and ranchers throughout the state. The Farmer of the Year Award is the Oscar of Arizona Farm Bureau awards.
“We honored a family last week that could be recognized for growing their business right along with the population of Maricopa County,” says Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers. “They started with some chickens in the backyard in 1944 and now have about 4 million laying hens. They are the only local commercial egg producers in Arizona.”
Family-owned and operated in Arizona since 1944, Hickman's entered the Arizona food service market by providing fresh, locally produced eggs direct to small independent restaurants, and directly to consumers. Every afternoon, one little refrigerated panel truck was sufficient to deliver the day's production to coffee shops in Glendale and to Carnation Restaurant in the big city of Phoenix. Bill and Gertie Hickman displayed the entrepreneurial insight that has kept Hickman's competitive for decades.
By 1993, Hickman Family Farms was left standing as the only Arizona egg producer with chickens and a USDA-inspected processing plant. Despite the challenges of the egg industry, the Glendale operation continued to expand and does so today to keep up with the demands of a growing Arizona population.
Rogers adds, “The Hickman family could receive this award for efficiency of their operation, their environmental awareness for composting the manure, their partnership with the Ak Chin Indian Community, their work with the Farm Bureau to reach out to the public and to our schoolchildren and so many other points of excellence.”
One of the Hickman family’s premiere efforts involves reaching out to teach the public that keeping laying hens in clean cages is good for food safety and is not cruel to chickens.
Agriculture has changed over the last century, and for a good reason. With more mouths to feed more efficient ways of producing safe, healthy and nutritious food must be found. This has been an ongoing goal of the Hickman family: To tell the story of modern agriculture and educate consumers about how their food is raised and why agriculture must continue to use technology.
Explains President and Chief Operating Officer Glenn Hickman of Hickman Family Farm, “We do consider ourselves a family farming enterprise. But we’re utilizing cutting-edge technology to bring food to the table in the most efficient, sanitary and safe means possible.”
“For their outreach to the community and their efforts to educate the public about modern agriculture, we honor the Hickman Family as Arizona Farm Bureau’s 2008 Farmer of the Year,” says Rogers.
Arizona Farm Bureau’s Farmer of the Year Award recognizes an individual in Arizona’s agricultural community that is innovative, a trendsetter or has shown exceptional leadership in an area. It also recognizes individuals who demonstrate a dedicated, innovative track record in agriculture and who actively support and speak out on behalf of Arizona’s industry through their lifelong commitment and dedication.
Maricopa County Farm Bureau had also recently recognized the Hickman family for their innovative agriculture practices awarding them the Maricopa County Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year award.
