Anchored with a family legacy and personal interest in farming, you’ll find Dalton Dilldine building a farming operation with attention to detail and natural curiosity.
“When we travel, I like to think about what I would do if I lived there,” Dilldine says. “I wish I had the opportunity to go to New York and walk up to someone in a suit and job shadow them for a day. I think it would be fascinating to see and understand how they spend their time.”
The continuous thread of his family’s operation drives Dilldine to overcome any obstacles and challenges in farming.
One such moment includes his father’s sudden death in 2010 at the age of 55.
At the age of 18, Dilldine was faced with the circumstances of his father’s passing: he could continue the family’s farm business, start his own entity or choose to go to college. As the type of guy who would choose “all of the above” to a multiple choice question, he did all three. Dilldine has since carried forward a legacy of farming that goes back to his great grandfather’s start with 154 acres in 1926. Dilldine Farms was in existence for decades, eventually operated by his parents. Once Dilldine was of age, he created Mezza Luna Farms.
Based in Mississippi County, Ark., the business is now over 5,900 acres and focuses on row crops.
For his achievements in the business of farming, Dilldine was awarded the 2025 Top Producer Next Gen Award, sponsored by Fendt and Pioneer.
Business Management
Legacy has not bound him, rather he’s harnessed creativity in problem solving with hard labor. He straddles honoring the family farm’s foundation while finding new ways of doing business and becoming more enlightened.
For example, he’s recently taken to using ChatGPT as a brainstorming tool.
“I’ve asked it to ask me 10 questions about the farm so it better understands our business,” he says. “Then, it can respond when I prompt it to tell me how I can make improvements in certain aspects of the operation.”
With some curves in the road and bumps along the way, his trajectory remains firm. This is despite the farm looking quite different than when his father operated it.
“Before my dad’s passing, it was a large farm — actually spread across two farms,” he explains. “And honestly, I don’t think we would be in as good of shape if we were farming all that ground today. I am the one making the decisions, and I don’t know how well my decisions would go farming that many acres. As technical as farming is in our area, it would be overwhelming at that scale.”
Dilldine says he invests in how he manages the relationships in the business to help him grow, and when the time is right, more acres will bring larger scale. For now, he remains focused on the details, including a water hole on a 20 acre field.
“Some guys wouldn’t worry about something like that, but the little stuff adds up.”
His heart compels him to labor on the farm as his mind focuses on the business details.
“This is a high stakes business,” Dilldine says. “You have to be detailed-oriented.”
His No. 1 stated goal for the farm is profitability for short-term and long-term success.
Ask him about management of the farm, and he references his spreadsheets — whether it be for bidding out inputs, landlord contacts, etc. — but then he starts talking about the relationships behind those rows and columns.
With facts and numbers in mind, he balances the personal and relationship side of the business. The weight of loyalty tips the balance on the scale for Dilldine.
“When I hire you, I plan for you to stay long term,” he says. “We’ve had more people pass away still working for us than we’ve let go.”
And longevity in time working for the farm is common. One key employee is secretary and bookkeeper Delois Tittle, who has worked for the family for almost 40 years.
Not Just a Tractor Driver
Over the years, Dilldine has shifted what his day-to-day work looks like.
“The biggest transition for me, individually, is now I have trained employees to do the labor intensive work I did in previous years. But I still tell and show all my guys I would do anything I am asking them to do,” he says.
Whereas success used to look like acres covered in a day, now Dalton Dilldine has a different perspective. Since evolving to more of a manager, and less time in the cab himself, Dilldine says he measures progress differently.
“I’m trying to do my best every day. At the end, I look for the reward in the day. There’s always going to be tomorrow. Let go of yesterday, and try to enjoy the success of the day. There’s always at least something positive,” he says.
In the spring of 2025, that looks like getting through six straight days of planting without a break or slowdown.
“There are things I now realize I can’t do from the cab of the sprayer,” Dilldine says. “I’ve got a guy trained to run our sprayer, and he’s done an excellent job. Letting someone else do the spraying is a huge role for me, but it’s taken something off my plate.”
He reflects on a time when he was the one in the sprayer, and his training and team organization today feels like a weight taken off his shoulders.
“For a non-farmer, the most surprising thing is the time I spend in my pickup — 60% to 80% of my time at work is in my truck facilitating the next task of the day in some shape or form,” he says.
With the current structure, he’s able to focus differently and be more efficient.
“This is a business, and as it’s owner and operator, I no longer get to spend my hours as a tractor driver,” he says.
In 2019, Dilldine had an on-farm accident. While operating the sprayer at a low rate of speed, the back wheels hit a 3’ ditch, resulting in the air ride seat bottoming out, and unfortunately breaking his back.
“My wife, who is a nurse practitioner, was working in the ER when I was brought in,” Dilldine says.
Through those 10 weeks of rest and rehabilitation, Dilldine says he learned patience and how to delegate.
“At the foundation, we have to trust each other on the farm. Trust the people you have hired and worked with so when it’s crunch time, they are going to do the best job they can,” he says. “I also learned how to give good notes — how to communicate what needed to be done with expectations of the outcome.”
Three years ago, Dilldine expanded his farm team using H-2A labor, and again he can report consistency with employees repeating their term on the farm year after year.
Methodical Approach
“I try really hard, taking one step in the right direction — whether it’s a baby step or a jump as far as I can jump. Every decision, I make it thoughtful and educated,” he says.
Unafraid to tackle problems with creative solutions or out-of-the-box thinking, Dilldine purchased a commercial grain facility during the 2022 harvest season amid a drought that was leading to significant decreases in basis due to low river levels.
With 750,000 bu. of total storage, Dilldine says he uses three-fourths of the capacity currently. Originally built in the 1940s, the facility had since been out of use.
“Regarding the grain bins, people didn’t see it for what it was and honestly, what it is now. The grainery was basically dilapidated, but now its a wealth of informatics and technology on the inside. Seeing it back up and running, it’s valuable. It’s as nice or nicer than where I deliver my finished product to,” Dilldine says. “I can dump trucks in about six minutes, and I can load them out in about 12 minutes — which is pretty fast for a private grain facility.”
Another example is how Dilldine added drone spraying to his operation.
“I took an entire year of planning that I was going to get a drone and learning all I could,” he says. “And I had a friend who has done it for a few years now, so it was nice to have a contact for planning and troubleshooting.”
This past year, Dilldine was eager to see what the drone is capable of in supplementing his ground sprayer for applications through the season.
“It’s been a huge benefit to be able to spray right after a rain. And if I need something done right away, it’s a supplemental tool to my ground rig sprayer. It’s saving me money, and I’m getting to apply the chemicals when I want to.”
Measure of Success
Building his network, such as the friend who had experience with drone spraying or talking to farmers about how they are also using ChatGPT, is a goal for Dilldine.
“I’m doing everything I can to be as efficient as possible. And when it comes to how I could improve things on my farm, I know networking is always going to be a great tool,” Dilldine describes.
The sharing of ideas is a two-way street. For example, Dilldine built out a spray tender trailer after looking at the setup of dozens. He settled on his design, and then five other farmers have since replicated the plans.
Plans for the Future
In farming, Dilldine is grateful for the opportunities he has pursued, and with growth in mind, he often approaches his landlords with propositions that benefit both parties.
“I want to show how we are taking care of the land we have and how my efforts can benefit us both financially and cultivate sustainability of the land,” he says.
As he works on making both the daily and long-term strategic decisions for the family’s operation, Dilldine says he often wonders what his father would think if he was here.
“I wish I could ask him today ‘Was buying the grain bins a good job? Was leveling this field the right answer? Should I have put risk out there and bought more land?’ I had to learn a lot on my own,” he says.
But he’s quick to answer if he’s had any failures in farming, with a no.
“I know you’ve got to let mistakes go, and do your best every day,” he says. “At the time, make the best decision with the information you currently have. And it’s been hard work, but I’ve tried hard to not look at any failure as a failure. I’ve had hardships, but they are just learning experiences.”
And this coming June, alongside his wife, Skiver, Dilldine will have the joy of becoming a first-time dad.
“In 25 years, I hope my daughter is well on her way through life, and if she wants to farm, I hope we have everything ready for her to be able to do so,” he says.
