Zach Hammack has a cow-calf, beef cattle operation near Hampton in Calhoun County. He sells his packaged beef products directly from his farm and is also the vo-ag instructor at Hampton High School. He provided this update on how Covid-19 and the weather have affected his operation this year.
Jim Carroll III of Brinkley will conclude his year as chair of the United Soybean Board next month. It's been a challenging year dealing with Covid-19 and the weather delayed his ability to plant and harvest his crops. He took time recently during his soybean harvest to update us on what it's been like to chair USB during the pandemic and what he's learned from the experience.
Like most other crop farmers, rain and cold, wet weather has delayed harvest for David Sites of Jefferson County. He provided this update from his farm near Altheimer recently where he’s hoping sunshine and wind will dry his fields and allow him to complete harvesting his soybeans this week.
While other farmers are closing their produce stands for the season, Judith and Tim Allen of SalScilla Farms in Mayflower are beginning year-round operation with a new open-air farm stand and cafe. Judith joined us to share more information about their grand opening.
2020 has been a year of ups and downs for White County farmer Brad Peacock. Excessive rainfall made it difficult to plant and harvest some of his crops, but being honored as the county and region’s Farm Family of the Year was a rewarding highlight.
The Ponca blackberry is the latest variety developed by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Fruit Research Station near Clarksville. Coming on the heels of other successful varieties developed there like Ouachita and Caddo, Ponca is a thornless, sweet variety that should prove successful with farmers and consumers. UA Distinguished Professor John Clark describes this new blackberry.
Buster Passmore
11-Years Old | Straight-A Student | Grower of Huge Pumpkins
ArFB’s Jenny Higgs recently visited Buster at home in Bono to get his secrets for growing prize-winning giant pumpkins. Buster's Garden has produced gourds big enough to win the UAEX Giant Pumpkin Contest two years in a row, beating the competition by more than 100 pounds each year.
For more pumpkin and gardening tips from Buster, visit his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/groups/BustersGarden.
In 2015, Bill and Donna Jackson moved from their home and careers in the city to a beautiful farm in Lawrence County. In the years since, they’ve turned the Jackson Farm into one of northeast Arkansas’ premier agritourism destinations, a place where families can learn about agriculture while creating fun memories that will last a lifetime.
Cody Hopkins is CEO and a founding farmer of the Grassroots Co-op. It includes small farmers in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky and Oregon, raising free-ranging poultry and grass-fed pork and beef for sale online at grassrootscoop.com.
The Arkansas State Livestock Show Sale of Champions was held Oct. 23. In the face of Covid-19 the concerted effort was approved by the Department of Health and allowed the hard-working young people involved in the show to reap the benefits of their year-long efforts and success. Hear from some of the grand champions about what it meant to them to participate in the auction.
