Jackie Prince has been farming in the Prairie County community of Biscoe for 40 years, starting with working for his grandfather as a teenager. He describes this year as one of the most challenging he's faced, because weather prevented him from planting his rice and soybeans.
Larry Blasdel raises cattle in the hills of Marion County and, despite industry challenges, he wouldn't have it any other way. He shares the story of his family business and spending a lifetime in the livestock business.
On this week’s edition, we have an interview with Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach, who tells us about his trip to Europe for a major trade conference. We also have the latest on muscadine research, the University of Arkansas Monticello’s Collegiate Farm Bureau and an on-campus retail meat market being developed at Centerpoint High School.
Randy Veach, president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, was among the farm and ranch leaders representing the United States at the 39th biennial North American – European Union Agriculture Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Though heavy rains this past spring forced Prairie County farmer Mason Sickel to push back his rice planting several weeks, he says that his crop is turning out better than expected this harvest season.
On this week’s edition, we’ll be talking about a variety of topics, from the importance of women in agriculture to the business of agricultural lending and banking. We also talk to the coach of an award-winning rodeo team and discuss a major donation of rice to the Arkansas Food Bank.
Harvest season is in full swing, so we visited Tollville rice farmer Mason Sickel to capture some of the hard work that's happening in the fields right now.
After experiencing a six-year period of economic expansion, the Arkansas timber and wood products industry is slowing down, signaled by the closing of two mills in south Arkansas. We spoke to some industry experts about the impact of the closings on Ashley and Union County communties and their thoughts on the severity and length of the slowdown.
In honor of National Rice Month and Rice Month in Arkansas, the Arkansas rice industry makes a donation to the Arkansas Foodbank each year. We attended this year's donation ceremony at the Food Bank headquarters in Little Rock and spoke with Rhonda Sanders, CEO of the Food Bank and Dan Hosman, Craighead County rice farmer and chair of the Arkansas Rice Council.
