Monica Paskewitz of Izard County won Arkansas Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award last year and represented the state in American Farm Bureau's first virtual event this week during the organization's annual convention. She shared her experience with Keith Sutton.
At Dogwood Hills Guest Farm in Harriett, guests can stay overnight and enjoy memory-making experiences based on traditional farm life like milking cows, hand feeding goats and learning about wool and fiber arts. Ruth Pepler and her daughter Grace shared the story behind their Ozark Mountains homestead, including Grace's newly opened Dew Line Dairy and their gluten-free farm-to-table kitchen.
Caleb Plyler is a Farm Bureau state board member. He operates a cow-calf farm in Hempstead County and was recently appointed to the national Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board. He shares his reaction to that appointment with us.
Southwest Arkansas has been without a USDA-inspected meat processing facility and local livestock producers have had to make lengthy roundtrips to deliver their animals. Now a local plant is under construction near Horatio because of the efforts of local cattleman Charles Morris. He took advantage of Coronavirus CARES Act grant funds to build the plant which will meet demand for locally-sourced protein products.
Magen Allen of Hot Spring County is beginning her second as chair of Arkansas Farm Bureau's Women's Leadership Committee. She participated in American Farm Bureau's first "virtual" annual convention this week and represented the state in AFBF's Women's Leadership activities. Ken Moore visited with Magen about conducting their business virtually and not being able to meet with other farm women in person. She also discussed the state committee's plans to continue their work virtually this year.
This year's American Farm Bureau Annual Convention wraps up today with a virtual Business Session. Arkansas Farm Bureau voting delegates joined in from the Arkansas Farm Bureau headquarters in Little Rock and worked along with Farm Bureau leaders from across the country to finalize the organization's policies for 2021. Hear what some of our delegates had to say about the process.
Cody Rose of Poinsett County won Arkansas Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet last year and represented the state in American Farm Bureau's first "virtual" contest this week during the organization's "virtual" annual convention. He shared his experience with Ken Moore in this Agcast Video Extra.
Dr. Heidi Ward is a veterinarian for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Many cattle producers in the state know her from her successful work on the state's Beef Quality Assurance Program. Her expertise is now part of a national group advising trainers on how to conduct fair farm animal welfare audits.
Anita Vandiver at Vandiver's NewCastle Farms is known far and wide for her delicious Lola's Table baked goods, but few people know that the little house in St. Francis County where she does her cooking was once her childhood home.
