Farmer and rancher Sean Brister of Mulberry, Ark., talks about recent rains and rising floodwaters along the Arkansas River and the impact these threats are having on the community where he farms and runs cattle. Floodwaters are rushing in from storm-ravaged Oklahoma along the Arkansas River Valley. According to the National Weather Service, the projected crest of 41 feet should hit Van Buren, Ark. Monday, breaking the record of 38.1 feet set in 1945.
Across America, military veterans are returning to the land, digging in, and creating new lives as farmers and caretakers, feeding their families and the world. Programs like Homegrown By Heroes and Vets4Ag are helping cultivate a new generation of farmers, developing viable employment and meaningful careers. For a recent Homegrown By Heroes event, we interviewed three Arkansas farmer veterans: U.S. Air Force veteran Desmond Simmons and U.S. Navy vets Dwayne Long and Adrian Sopshire. Watch to learn more about these men and their post-military careers in agriculture.
A Horticulture Field Day was held recently in Hope. Dr. Amanda McWhirt, horticulture extension specialist with the University of Arkansas, talks about the research going on at the Southwest Research and Extension Center and the crops they grow there, particularly blueberries and blackberries, watermelons and muscadines.
We visited Delta Plastics and spoke to owner and chairman Dhu Thompson about the company's recycling technology and how partnerships with farmers play a critical role in the company's success. Watch our latest video to learn more about the unique role this company plays in the agriculture industry.
Randy Arnold grows strawberries on his farm outside of Alma. The heavy rains this season have challenged strawberry growers statewide. In this video, Arnold discusses how he’s dealing with this year’s weather-created problems.
Farmer Derek Helms, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Clark County Staff Chair Amy Simpson and John David Farabough of the UA Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service discuss how many farmers in the state are experiencing delays in planting, loss of yields and rushed field prep times due to excessive rains.
Rain has created serious problems for many Arkansas farmers, putting many substantially behind on spring planting. Monroe County Farm Bureau President Bo Mason discussed how wet weather has caused delays of a month or more on his 2,500-acre row-crop farm near Brinkley.
Do you know how important the timber industry is to Arkansas? Forests cover 19 million acres, or about 56 percent of the state, and contain 11.8 billion trees. Learn more in our new Rows & Ranches series on timber in the Natural State. In this introduction, you'll hear about reforestation and the planting process from Tony Cummings of Arkansas Forestry Management Service.
April has been National Pecan Month, and April 14 was National Pecan Day. We visited with Conway County grower Robert "Crash" Carruthers, who talked all things pecans, including the ongoing trade and tariff war with China, how weather affects pecan nut development and the increasing acreage of pecan groves in Conway County.
