Seventeen-year-old Riley and 15-year-old Jack Hoyle of Taylor have grown up attending livestock shows and showing goats, sheep and hogs at fairs and Jackpot shows all over the country. By embracing a lifestyle built on discipline and a strong work ethic, the Columbia County siblings and FFA members have learned how to raise champion animals. This is their story.
Believe it or not, fair season is here. Beyond the rides and food, it's a time of building connections between urban and rural communities and the agriculture industry and those outside of it. Benton County Farm Bureau leaders explain how they're using their annual petting zoo at the county fair to bridge the gap between producers and consumers in their community.
2019 Miss Rodeo Arkansas Susan Rhodes spoke with us about her personal platform, “Tough Enough to Talk” and shared her passion for the sport of rodeo and its agricultural roots and family atmosphere.
Many people don’t know it, but at the Arkansas Agriculture Department, a team of specialized law enforcement officers is working day and night throughout the state to investigate agricultural crimes such as wildfire arson, timber theft, livestock theft, agricultural and forestry equipment theft and vandalism.
Lee Nutt, an 83-year-old farmer raised on the banks of the Arkansas River in Perry County, has a deep appreciation of farming "the way it used to be." Through the years he has developed a passion for collecting and preserving relics of the past. They are more than just antiques, he says, and if they could talk, they'd "tell quite a story" about the lives and labors of the previous generations who produced our food. Learn Nutt's story and the story of his amazing collection.
Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Ambassador of Japan to the United States, joined Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach on a visit to the farm of Robby Bevis near Scott in Lonoke County. The ambassador was visiting Arkansas from the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. to discuss possible agricultural trade expansion.
Roger Pohlner of Fisher is the new chairman of the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board. We visited with him at the recent Rice Field Day in Stuttgart and learned about some of ways the board hopes to improve profitability for the state’s rice farmers this year.
A variety of industry, education and government experts attended our recent Officers & Leaders conference in Hot Springs. We caught up with a few of these presenters for video interviews, including Farm Service Agency State Executive Director David Curtis and Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Mike Sullivan. Hear what they had to say about disaster recovery, new programs and more.
During a recent field day at the Rohwer Research Station, Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service agronomists Jason Kelley and Jarrod Hardke updated southeast Arkansas farmers on the condition of the state's corn, rice and soybean crops after one of the wettest spring planting and summer growing seasons in memory.
Arkansas Farm Bureau leaders from around the state gathered in Hot Springs July 22-23 for the 71st ArFB Officers & Leaders Conference. Several of those in attendance spoke about the importance of the annual gathering and what they learned during the event. Watch our interviews with Woodruff County Farm Bureau board member Terrance Scott, Mississippi County Farm Bureau President Heath Donner and Monroe County Farm Bureau President Bo Mason.
