DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 1997            TAG: 9710010421

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT 

        STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   69 lines

BROTHERS WHO'VE FARMED TOGETHER FOR 25 YEARS NAMED FAMILY OF YEAR

Brothers who have burned the midnight oil and toiled in the noonday sun for more than a quarter century have been recognized by the Suffolk Chapter of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce as this city's Farm Family of the Year.

J. Mack Byrum Jr. and Wayne Byrum operate M&W Farms Inc., near Holland. The brothers farm more than 1,700 acres.

At the same time, for as long as they've been farming, they've also worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth.

Staying in touch, they agreed recently, often meant depending on the telephone to discuss planting, spraying and harvesting, especially when one brother was scurrying toward the fields while the other made his way to the shipyard.

But something cemented both the business and personal relationships.

``I believe farming really is in your blood,'' Mack Byrum, 48, said, as Wayne, 47, leaning against a mammoth cotton picker, nodded in agreement.

Their farming roots go back to the Byrums' maternal grandfather. Henry Parker, they say, was one of the biggest farmers in Suffolk in the early 1900s.

``He had eight mules at one time,'' Mack said. ``That's how they measured a man's success back then.''

The family farm where the men live today - side by side, with their father's home sandwiched between - was taken over in 1941 by Mack Sr. from his father-in-law. Today, at 85, the elder Byrum is retired.

The brothers said they hoped their father, who is beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's, would realize all of his sons' hard work had finally been recognized.

``We owe what we are to daddy,'' Mack said. ``He's always helped us, given us advice. He has been the wise man of this operation. We're fortunate to have a father like him.''

The brothers, after starting to work in the shipyard, got into farming in 1977, about the time their father retired. There was never any thought about quitting their shipyard jobs, they say.

They continued to do what they had always done, whether in school or working. They came home from work and went back to work, to the fields loved by them, their father and grandfather before them.

``There were many nights, during planting and harvest time, that we'd go completely without sleep,'' Wayne said. ``You get used to it.''

For years, the Byrums worked the ``graveyard'' shift so they could spend their days in the fields.

``My brother worked for them a few days and swore they would starve anybody to death,'' said Brenda Byrum, Wayne's wife. ``They won't even stop to eat.''

Brenda and Mack's wife, Gloria, say that family life wasn't easy with two men who constantly worked. Certain days were set aside as family days. Both women drove pickups and hauled farm workers, including their husbands, from field to field.

Brenda and Wayne have one daughter; Gloria and Mack have two.

Have the wives regretted their husband's hard work?

``No, not at all,'' they say in unison.

Profits from the farm inevitably went back into the farm, for equipment, seed and chemicals.

``We've come a long way, almost from scratch,'' Mack said. ``Daddy didn't have all this.''

And, although Mack Sr. may not realize it, the award, in his sons' minds, will be just as much his as theirs.

The chamber will sponsor a luncheon in November to honor the Byrums. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MICHAEL KESTNER

The Virginian-Pilot

J. Mack Byrum Jr., left, and Wayne Byrum, right...

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