In Clark County and across southwest Arkansas, the need for certified trained loggers is about to increase with construction of the announced Sun Bio pulp plant near Arkadelphia. With this in mind the local school system, along with three partner groups, invested more than $100,000 to purchase a Forestry Equipment Training Simulator Trailer. In this edition of Arkansas Agcast, Superintendent Allen Blackwell and Vo-Ag instructor Justin Rowland discuss how the simulators will train students in how to harvest timber, then load logs onto trucks for delivery to local mills, certifying them for potential careers in the logging industry.
The Sansom family has been raising and marketing cattle in Little River County for decades. Jennifer is a single mom of two who has her own angus herd and is selling freezer beef straight from her farm, while her father Dale is a field representative for Superior Livestock Auction, a nationwide online cattle marketing firm. Dale’s father Norman has also worked for the company. Learn more about their multi-generational in our new video.
Wild or feral hogs have been reported in all 75 counties in Arkansas, carrying disease and causing extensive damage to property. Darwin Hendrix of Pike County is a member of the state feral hog eradication task force and he’s been trapping feral hogs for 10 years with some success. In this edition of Arkansas Agcast, he discusses his efforts to deal with the destructive hogs and what will be necessary to address this costly problem at the state level.
Learn about some of the state's top young farmers and ranchers; the new dean at the University of Arkansas's Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food & Life Sciences; new smoke management guidelines, the EQIP program and more.
Terry Pollard of Piggott farms some corn and soybeans, but 1,260 of his 2,200 acres are planted in cotton this year. We visited with Terry on his Clay County farm to learn more about raising cotton from planting to harvest.
Arkansas Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization and our members and volunteer leaders work together to define the organization's public policy goals and objectives. ArFB has engaged in the political process since its beginnings in 1935 and this advocacy mission begins with local meetings in each county. The policy development meeting "season" has begun for ArFB members and it's off to a strong start after a multi-county meeting in Harrison.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working with the University of Arkansas and Glennoe Farms near Stuttgart, are bringing together molecular biology, biogeochemistry, environmental sensing technologies, and machine learning, to help revolutionize agriculture and create sustainable farming practices that benefit both the environment and farmers.
John Kirkpatrick and his daughter Cindy were on hand for the 42nd annual Hope Watermelon Festival, selling melons grown on their farm at Willisville. Growing and selling watermelons is a family tradition that has lasted decades and the father-daughter team share their memories.
Governor Asa Hutchinson conducted a two-day farm tour across south Arkansas recently and the first stop was Ricky Fawcett’s poultry farm at Winslow in Little River County. During a question and answer session, the governor responded to the concerns of poultry farmers in that part of the state. Among those in attendance was District 4 State Representative DeAnn Vaught.
