The Arkansas Agriculture Department held its 2019 Local Conversations event at the Hermitage Community Center in Bradley County January 17. Specialty crop farmers joined local school food service and nutrition directors, food distribution representatives and other industry representatives to discuss marketing opportunities for locally grown products. In this edition of Arkansas Agcast, Ron Rainey, director of the UA Division of Agriculture’s Marketmaker Program and Bob Midles, Marketing Director for the Ag Department discuss the success and importance of Local Conversations events.
Arkansas Farm Bureau announced Monday its support for House Bill 1117, as written, a bill that would restructure the Arkansas Agriculture Department. The agricultural advocacy organization’s state board of directors met Friday to review policy positions affirmed by its members at its most recent state convention. HB 1117, part of a broader effort by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to streamline state government, has been referred to the House State Agencies Committee.
Arkansas Farm Bureau was on hand for the 100th Annual American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in New Orleans. Check out highlights from our coverage of the event.
Mike Richardson of Davis Angus Farm near Waldron in Scott County and Shaun Rhoades, staff chair of the county extension office, talk about the impacts of the unusually wet winter weather on ranchers.
Jessica Clowser has been hired as the Director of Commodity Activities and Economics for Aquaculture, Forestry and Specialty Crops at Arkansas Farm Bureau, where she is responsible for directing commodity-specific programs and activities. She will address legislative, regulatory and economic affairs important to Farm Bureau members and manage administrative functions for commodity check-off boards.
The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame has announced plans to induct five individuals whose leadership and service have brought distinction to the state’s largest business sector. The newest class includes retired University of Arkansas educator Dr. L.B. (Bernie) Daniels of Fayetteville Ed Fryar of Rogers, the founder of Ozark Mountain Poultry; UA professor Dr. Donna Graham of Fayetteville; UA distinguished professor Dr. Terry Siebenmorgen of Fayetteville; and David Walt of Dumas, a retired soybean farmer.
From picking by hand to using harvesters and machinery to shake the trees, Davis Pecans has grown into a multi-generational family business success story in the Red River valley.
A grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is helping fund cutting-edge biotechnology research on corn at Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Dr. Elizabeth Hood, distinguished professor of agriculture at A-State, joined us to discuss the research team’s work, which could ultimately lead to corn strains that produce proteins important for more environmentally sound industrial applications.
Lonoke County is rich with gold — goldfish, that is. Pool Fisheries in Lonoke, founded in 1959, produces around 175 million goldfish each year, about 80 percent of the total U.S. production. Listen as co-owner Ronnie Pool and general manager Rodney Elmore describe how this family business fulfills orders for these popular aquarium and bait fish throughout the year.
