Farm-to-table is the foodie rage and, in Hot Springs, there's an example of this trend that highlights how mutually beneficial the relationship between local farms and restaurants can be. In a unique relationship, JV Farms Homestead in Bismarck takes waste brewers grains from Superior Bathhouse Brewery in Hot Springs National Park, feeds their hogs with it, then sells the pork meat back to the brewery where it’s made into sausage for the brewery restaurant.
Before harvest season in Arkansas wraps up, we paid a visit to Jackson County farmer Bubba Sink to follow his pickers in the field. See for yourself how Sink brings in his soybean crop and learn more about soybeans in Arkansas.
We visited Jeremy Bemis on his family’s tree farm near the southern Pulaski County town of Wrightsville. A brief venture into growing pumpkins and Christmas trees led to development of Bemis Honeybee Farm, which Jeremy and his wife Emily operate. Established in 2012 the bee farm now features one of the largest stores for beekeeping equipment in the state and it has become a destination for beekeepers across Arkansas and neighboring states.
Earlier this year, 93-year-old cattle rancher Lloyd Reynolds of Lamar attended his last Johnson County Farm Bureau board meeting. Reynolds had served on the board for most of his adult life. He shared his thoughts about Arkansas Farm Bureau with us, along with stories from his full and fascinating life in agriculture.
Dennis Martin of Hickory Ridge followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, farming row crops on land in Cross, Jackson and Woodruff counties. Now his daughter Jenna, fresh out of college, has decided she’ll continue the family tradition and work full-time on the farm alongside her dad. Watch as they share their story.
Peanut production has become more common in Arkansas. With a little help from Tommy Jumper and his vertically integrated business model at Delta Peanut LLC, cotton farmers in Lee and St. Francis counties have been adding peanuts to their rotation and harvesting better-than-expected yields. Jumper talked to us about his business and how he believes that the state will become a “major player” in the U.S. peanut industry when Arkansas’ first shelling facility begins operation near Jonesboro next year.
Jeff Edwards has been farming in the Sherrill-Pastoria community near Pine Bluff for most of his life. Like others in the Arkansas River valley, he lost cropland to the historic flooding earlier this year. He and his family have weathered challenges like this before, though, and Jeff plans to continue farming until, “the Lord calls him home.” Watch to learn more.
Arkansas Farm Bureau was once again one of the major sponsors of the Junior Livestock Auction at the Arkansas State Fair. During the premium livestock sale, we caught up with some of the young participants from around the state, who talked about the work involved in raising champion animals and their personal experience at this year’s Fair.
Farmers in eastern Arkansas like Caleb Jones are working hard bringing in this year’s cotton crop. Caleb took time to visit with us about his family’s multi-generational farm in St. Francis County and his concerns about this year's prices.
Cotton Incorporated and other industry representatives from across the country made what has become an annual visit to Lee County recently to learn about cotton production and the ginning process from local farmers and observe the fall harvest. We spoke to some of the attendees and to Marianna farmer Trent Felton about the visit and what they hope it accomplishes.
