The Olds Farm in Rosboro, Arkansas is a place for students in the region to experience true hands-on learning. Now with the help of the Caddo Career Consortium they've dedicated a new Show Barn that enhances the ways agriculture is taught in the area. The barn is already housing animals and hosting events, but if you listen to anyone attending the dedication ceremony they'll tell you this ag-focused community is just getting started.

The Local Food, Farms and Jobs Act of 2019 was passed to help strengthen local farm and food economies and expand access to locally grown and produced foods. The Act asked state agencies, including schools, to set a goal of purchasing at least 20 percent of food from Arkansas producers. We visited Newton County to learn how one local rancher is working to provide meat for the local school system.

Crawfish are an Arkansas favorite... to eat. Yet few in the state raise their own. Is crawfish farming viable here? One farmer in Southwest Arkansas has made a successful hobby harvesting crawfish, but he hasn't done it without learning a few interesting lessons along the way.

In 1996, Arkansas Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Committee began a partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas that continues today. This month, the committee and staff at Ronald McDonald House commemorated the 25th anniversary of the partnership with a special event, during which the women's committee made its annual $4,000 donation. The donation will be used to purchase food and supplies to feed families staying at Ronald McDonald House to be near seriously ill children receiving treatment at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Our second VLOG in the series "A Day In The Life" is up and this time we follow Bill Jackson at Jackson Farm in Lawrence County. Follow Bill around as he shows us his orchard, cattle and even meet Kuzco the llama.

Thanks to some generous donations from Rocking F Ranch in Patterson, 13 students in Woodruff, Cross and Jackson counties will be able to show pigs in the Three County Fair this fall. Ranch owner Wes Fairchild and his son Tucker talked about the benefits of owning and showing animals like these.

More than 20 years since its inception, construction on the final phases of the White River Irrigation District surface water project is about to begin. State officials gathered recently to announce that construction of canals to deliver water from the river to area farms has been funded, signaling completion of the project within the next two to three years.

Dr. Andrew Sharpley has had a major impact on agriculture in Arkansas. Sharpley, who retired recently as a Distinguished Professor in the department of crop, soil and environmental sciences for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, is known for his work helping establish the Arkansas Discovery Farm Program and his focus on agricultural conservation practices. Sharpley took some time to reflect on his lengthy career and his work with Arkansas farmers and ranchers.

Bobby and Karen Bradford own BoBrook Farms LLC and River Bottom Winery in the Roland community west of Little Rock. They were named the 2020 Pulaski County Farm Family of the Year. BoBrook Farms is an agritourism operation and the Bradfords enjoy inviting the public to the farm to enjoy the comfortable setting, the pumpkin patch and hayrides they have in the fall and learn about agriculture and life on a farm. This is their story.

At Final Drive Genetics in Paragould, Jordan and Katie Leatherman have taken their lifelong passions for breeding show pigs and started a successful business that provides top-quality animals for youth exhibitors.