While other farmers are closing their produce stands for the season, Judith and Tim Allen of SalScilla Farms in Mayflower are beginning year-round operation with a new open-air farm stand and cafe. Judith joined us to share more information about their grand opening.
2020 has been a year of ups and downs for White County farmer Brad Peacock. Excessive rainfall made it difficult to plant and harvest some of his crops, but being honored as the county and region’s Farm Family of the Year was a rewarding highlight.
The Ponca blackberry is the latest variety developed by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Fruit Research Station near Clarksville. Coming on the heels of other successful varieties developed there like Ouachita and Caddo, Ponca is a thornless, sweet variety that should prove successful with farmers and consumers. UA Distinguished Professor John Clark describes this new blackberry.
This week, we wrap up Farm to School Month in Arkansas with a discussion about outstanding school gardens and we hear from Daniel Keisler about his custom beef and pork business, Circle K Angus Farms. We also talk to 82-year-old farmer Ellis Bell of Forrest City, who founded a local non-profit for promoting science-based agriculture education, and catch up with Rick Bransford of Lonoke County about this year’s cotton crop.
In 2015, Bill and Donna Jackson moved from their home and careers in the city to a beautiful farm in Lawrence County. In the years since, they’ve turned the Jackson Farm into one of northeast Arkansas’ premier agritourism destinations, a place where families can learn about agriculture while creating fun memories that will last a lifetime.
Cody Hopkins is CEO and a founding farmer of the Grassroots Co-op. It includes small farmers in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky and Oregon, raising free-ranging poultry and grass-fed pork and beef for sale online at grassrootscoop.com.
Rick Bransford’s family has been growing cotton and other crops in Lonoke County since the mid-1850s. He has continued that tradition for the past 40 years. He recently took a break from picking his cotton crop to provide an update on how he’s dealt with weather delays and other challenges this year.
This week, we visit the state livestock show in Little Rock and we learn about the production and use of mass timber in Arkansas. We also talk to about the farming life with Steve Morgan of Johnson County and growing organic with Shawn Peebles of Augusta.
