The finalists in Arkansas Farm Bureau’s annual Young Farmer and Rancher Achievement Award and Excellence in Agriculture Award have been announced. The awards honor young farmers and ranchers between the ages of 18-35 for the general excellence of their operations, their hard work and innovation.
Tom and Shannon Olson have been raising water buffalo on their Turkey Creek ranch near Texarkana for almost 30 years and they recently hosted a tour for students from Genoa Central High School. In this edition of Arkansas AgCast, Ken Moore visited with Tom Olson and Kimberly Leigh, FFA Advisor and Vo-Ag instructor at Genoa Central about this unique breed and what the students learned from the visit.
Angela Jones, a tenth-grade English teacher at Greenwood High School in Sebastian County, is Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2018 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher. Jones received the award during a recent surprise announcement at the school.
Wesley Gwaltney of Batesville (Independence County), a rising senior majoring in creative media production at Arkansas State University, is the 2018 recipient of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Marvin Vines Memorial Scholarship.
Several hours of subfreezing temperatures the morning of April 8 damaged much of Joey Jamison’s peach crop and likely that of other peach and berry growers in Arkansas. It’s too early to know the full extent of losses, but Jamison says that, while much of his crop was lost, he believes some of his young peaches survived. Watch and listen to learn more.
Karen Rowe, Arkansas County equine enthusiast and biologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, visited with our Keith Sutton about the hordes of buffalo gnats wreaking havoc with horses, livestock, poultry and wildlife in the Delta of eastern Arkansas. These blood-sucking black flies are so numerous this year they are killing many animals, and right now there's no end in sight.
Arkansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest agricultural advocacy organization, has set a Measure the Candidate forum for May 9 at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock. Candidates for state constitutional offices, the 2nd Congressional district of the U.S. House of Representatives, and state Supreme Court have been invited to be on the program.
Following up on our podcast interview, we took our cameras to visit Brett Ausley on his family ranch in Hot Spring County. He showed us around and explained why he got into Wagyu beef and began selling it directly to consumers through social media and to local restaurants.
