In this issue, we celebrate the career of Arkansas Farm Bureau's Travis Justice, who's retiring after almost 50 years of service. We also meet the winners of this year's top Young Farmer & Rancher awards and get to know Dr. Bob Scott, the new director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.

A number of issues during the past several years have compounded farm stress, and Farm Bureau has been working to address this critical issue. Rebecca Simon with the Cooperative Extension Service joined us to share some everyday ways farmers can cope when things aren't going as planned.

Soybeans push higher, rice takes a beating from weather and cattle shows signs of topping out.

This week, we talk to Sen. John Boozman after one of his recent farm visits this week, and we hear from Cooperative Extension Service expert Julia Fryer on produce safety issues after Hurricane Laura. We also catch up with the Benton County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee's Brenda Patton about the challenges her group has faced during COVID-19.

This week, weather takes center stage. We hear from a National Weather Service Senior Forecaster John Lewis, Ag Extension Rice Agronomist Jarrod Hardke and Sevier County livestock and poultry grower Bruce Jackson about how excessive winds and rainfall from Hurricane Laura could impact Arkansas agriculture. We also get some tips and information for Arkansas small meat and poultry processors interested in the state’s new $5 million grant program for expanding processing capacity.

Kallem Hill grows broiler chickens for Wayne Farms in Perry. He has 18 poultry houses and, like other growers in the state, has suffered extended “out times” and other issues from the Covid-19 pandemic. In this update, Hill explains how Payment Protection Program assistance allowed him to pay his employees and says that things are slowly getting back to normal.

In this Video AgCast, UA Food Science Research Specialist Renee Threlfall talks about grapes in Arkansas and the new, grant-funded Arkansas Quality Wine Program.

Arkansas Farm Bureau on Friday praised Gov. Asa Hutchinson and members of the General Assembly after the body allocated $5 million from the federal CARES Act to create a grant program that will allow custom meat processors in Arkansas to expand and upgrade facilities.

USDA lowers total meat production forecast, rice remains steady and Iowa weather leads to soybean gains.

Terry Kruse of McCrory is the 2020 Arkansas Catfish Farmer of the Year. He has been growing "U.S. Farm Raised Catfish" at Cain Fish Farm for more than 30 years. He spoke to us about receiving the honor and opportunity to promote this important sector of agriculture.