May 30, 2009

Harold Snyder brought the poultry industry to the Arkansas River Valley. After serving in World War II, Snyder moved to Dardanelle (Yell County) to manage the Arkansas River Valley Feed Mill. In 1948, he worked out an agreement with a local farmer to help raise 6,000 broilers. For the next ten years, he worked to merge the companies involved in all phases of the broiler business. By 1960, his company, Arkansas Valley Industries, Inc., became the first wholly integrated poultry business to make stocks available to the public. The company is now part of Tyson Foods, Inc.