{"id":149415,"date":"2023-06-30T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=149415"},"modified":"2024-07-30T11:41:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T15:41:37","slug":"meet-the-arkansas-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Arkansas Farmers Turning Sweet Potatoes into Spirits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rich soil of the Arkansas Delta takes its minerals from the Mississippi River that winds in circuitous patterns between the state and its neighboring namesake. Prime farmland, it attracted countless farmers, including the Black farmers seeking to fulfill the promise of \u201c40 acres and a mule\u201d that followed the American Civil War. But Black farm ownership has dropped dramatically over the years, with just 1,500 estimated to remain in Arkansas today. Among those is the Williams family farm, a fourth-generation operation that has been able to beat the odds and find inspiration in an unlikely place: its own fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharecropper Joe Williams raised his family on a cotton and corn farm before passing it on to his son, UD, who was able to purchase the farm in 1949 thanks to the money he earned from cotton and homemade moonshine. It\u2019s still run by the family today, now growing 100 acres of mostly sweet potatoes, the warm-climate vegetable that is an important staple in African American foodways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the process hasn\u2019t always come easily. After the Civil War, the sharecropping period often involved predatory practices, including low wages and unsafe conditions. Landowners collected rent for the land as well as a percentage of the crops, while the farmers who worked it received only a small amount. In 1919, a nearby town in the Arkansas Delta was the site of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopediaofarkansas.net\/entries\/elaine-massacre-of-1919-1102\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elaine Massacre<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where hundreds were killed in a conflict that stemmed from a labor union meeting of Black sharecroppers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the late 1980s, farming became more difficult as equipment and material costs rose, causing many to close, including farmers. The USDA loan program was another source of discrimination as Black farmers were denied assistance for arbitrary reasons, resulting in the class-action lawsuit <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pigford v. Glickman<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMany farmers, especially Black farmers, got out of farming at that time or diversified \u2026 My dad chose to diversify and change over to more vegetable farming,\u201d says Harvey Williams, the fourth-generation farmer who currently manages the farm with his brothers Andre and Kennard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m really grateful and proud that my dad was able to find a way to make a living with our small acres and his limited resources,\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">says Williams. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt the same time, I\u2019m saddened that so many other Black farmers in the Delta were not as fortunate. Their reasons and conditions may vary, but the result ended the same\u2014thousands of acres and hundreds of Black families are no longer living on nor farming their ancestral land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149425\" style=\"width: 519px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-149425 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/shutterstock_1798183129-519x346.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"519\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/shutterstock_1798183129-519x346.jpg 519w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/shutterstock_1798183129-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/shutterstock_1798183129.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sweet potatoes are a staple of African American foodways<\/span>. (Photo: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Williams took time away from the farm, taking a corporate job and moving across the country, then returned to Arkansas in 2016 to work for a company around two hours from Helena. But he still felt connected to the family business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI wanted to do something tied to the farm, and I didn&#8217;t know what that was going to look like. I just didn&#8217;t want to do traditional&#8230; I don&#8217;t know, crop farming, just driving tractors every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His brother and late father, Harvey Sr., continued to farm sweet potatoes and, while at a 2016 farming conference, they learned about a farm in North Carolina producing sweet potato vodka.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI got really intrigued and said, \u2018We should do that.\u2019 My brother was trying to get me to go into sweet potato pies and other things, but I really thought it would be a unique opportunity to produce a sweet potato vodka,\u201d says Williams. \u201cThere&#8217;s not many on the market.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He soon found out why that was the case when launching <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/deltadirtdistillery.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Delta Dirt Distillery<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the first Black-owned distillery in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe process of extracting the fermentable sugars out of sweet potatoes is not an easy one. So we put a lot of effort into figuring that out,\u201d says Williams, noting that it\u2019s not as straightforward as producing vodka. \u201cWith sweet potatoes, the nuances really reside in the cook and mash processes. Sweet potatoes are known to be a hearty and nutritious vegetable, and the sugars extracted from them lend a unique and delightful hint of earthy sweetness to our vodka.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149421\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149421\" style=\"width: 519px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-149421 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-519x346.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"519\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-519x346.jpeg 519w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-1200x800.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o-1500x1000.jpeg 1500w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/59E16E8C-B255-4033-AB82-83CA0A051C37_1_102_o.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149421\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Distilling vodka from sweet potatoes is more challenging than from regular potatoes. (Photo: Thomas Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One thing working in the company\u2019s favor is the fact that they grow their own sweet potatoes, allowing them to control the costs and quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWith enough research and effort, we figured out a way to create this product out of sweet potatoes and our corn. We grow both of those raw ingredients, which makes it even better,\u201d he says. \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We enlisted the help of industry consultants and a university professor. I still admit that sweet potatoes are not the easiest source for producing alcohol, but, over time, we were able to develop a process that met our expectations of delivering decent yields and exceptional taste.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Williams family bought a building in the quiet stretch of downtown Helena in 2017 and set about converting it into a distillery. The pandemic threw a wrench in their plans, but it gave them time to perfect their recipe, testing various methods until they produced a bottle that met their expectations in December of 2020. The tasting room followed, opening in April of 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPeople that come in will say, \u2018Man, this doesn&#8217;t feel like Helena\u2019 or, &#8220;This is something that could be in downtown New York,\u2019\u201d says Williams.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149426\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-149426 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-560x315.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-560x315.jpg 560w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348-1778x1000.jpg 1778w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-22-Jun-2023-10-41-AM-7348.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Delta Dirt&#8217;s tasting room opened in downtown Helena in 2021. (Photos: Thomas Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The distillery has also benefited from community support as the pandemic allowed locals to see the progress and interest grew through word of mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey have really embraced the business. Not initially, especially the locals, they didn&#8217;t know what it was,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cNow we have a regular crowd that comes in, mostly on Friday evenings, and then the rest of the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we have people from all over the state, and in some cases, all over the country, come and check us out.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to the original sweet potato vodka, which won Double Gold in the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Delta Dirt also has gin and bourbon, all of which are available in Arkansas and parts of Texas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The distillery is now a family operation, with Harvey\u2019s wife Donna and sons Thomas and Donavan as head distiller and operations manager, respectively. Not only was the family able to diversify its agricultural offerings, but it has also continued the legacy started by Joe Williams to be passed onto the next generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was originally 86 acres, and we&#8217;ve kept that land,\u201d says Williams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The rich soil of the Arkansas Delta takes its minerals from the Mississippi River that winds in circuitous patterns between the state and its neighboring namesake. Prime farmland, it attracted countless farmers, including the Black farmers seeking to fulfill the promise of \u201c40 acres and a mule\u201d that followed the American Civil War. But Black [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1940,"featured_media":149418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":[33277],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33293],"tags":[33302,33084],"article-theme":[33291],"class_list":["post-149415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumption","tag-business","tag-food","format-mtmf","article-theme-people"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet the Arkansas Farmers Turning Sweet Potatoes into Spirits - Modern Farmer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The rich soil of the Arkansas Delta takes its minerals from the Mississippi River that winds in circuitous patterns between the state and its neighboring\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Arkansas Farmers Turning Sweet Potatoes into Spirits - Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The rich soil of the Arkansas Delta takes its minerals from the Mississippi River that winds in circuitous patterns between the state and its neighboring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T12:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-30T15:41:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_4542-2-scaled-e1687454859653.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"961\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caroline Eubanks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caroline Eubanks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Caroline Eubanks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/798d302f1f581f150142ff4b5349d63f\"},\"headline\":\"Meet the Arkansas Farmers Turning Sweet Potatoes into Spirits\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T12:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-30T15:41:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/\"},\"wordCount\":1136,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2023\/06\/meet-the-arkansas-farmers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_4542-2-scaled-e1687454859653.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Business\",\"Food &amp; 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