Mark Cain is co-owner/farmer at Dripping Springs Garden near Huntsville. He discusses planning underway now on what and how much to plant for this year’s CSA (community supported agriculture) subscriptions and how online buying due to the pandemic increased demand for this food service.
Arkansas Farm Bureau is the Voice of Arkansas agriculture, helping to protect and promote farmers and ranchers across the state. But did you know as an ArFB member, you have access to many more benefits!? As we kick-off Farm Bureau Week 2021, check out just a few of the places you can save!
As a child in Phillips County, Mary Bone helped her grandfather on the family's produce farm. For the past seven years, she leased land north of Brinkley and grew produce to sell at the Hillcrest Farmers Market until COVID-19 interrupted. Now, she and her husband have purchased land in north Pulaski County to grow a variety of fruit and vegetables to sell locally. She tells us about this and other plans for the new venture in this video.
Adam Chappell and his brother Seth farm more than 7,000 acres of row crops in Woodruff and Monroe counties. Adam joined us to discuss the challenges they faced during the difficult 12 months just past and his hopes for a better year in 2021.
Monica Paskewitz of Izard County won Arkansas Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award last year and represented the state in American Farm Bureau's first virtual event this week during the organization's annual convention. She shared her experience with Keith Sutton.
At Dogwood Hills Guest Farm in Harriett, guests can stay overnight and enjoy memory-making experiences based on traditional farm life like milking cows, hand feeding goats and learning about wool and fiber arts. Ruth Pepler and her daughter Grace shared the story behind their Ozark Mountains homestead, including Grace's newly opened Dew Line Dairy and their gluten-free farm-to-table kitchen.
Caleb Plyler is a Farm Bureau state board member. He operates a cow-calf farm in Hempstead County and was recently appointed to the national Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board. He shares his reaction to that appointment with us.
Southwest Arkansas has been without a USDA-inspected meat processing facility and local livestock producers have had to make lengthy roundtrips to deliver their animals. Now a local plant is under construction near Horatio because of the efforts of local cattleman Charles Morris. He took advantage of Coronavirus CARES Act grant funds to build the plant which will meet demand for locally-sourced protein products.
Magen Allen of Hot Spring County is beginning her second as chair of Arkansas Farm Bureau's Women's Leadership Committee. She participated in American Farm Bureau's first "virtual" annual convention this week and represented the state in AFBF's Women's Leadership activities. Ken Moore visited with Magen about conducting their business virtually and not being able to meet with other farm women in person. She also discussed the state committee's plans to continue their work virtually this year.
This year's American Farm Bureau Annual Convention wraps up today with a virtual Business Session. Arkansas Farm Bureau voting delegates joined in from the Arkansas Farm Bureau headquarters in Little Rock and worked along with Farm Bureau leaders from across the country to finalize the organization's policies for 2021. Hear what some of our delegates had to say about the process.
