Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
By Mary HightowerU of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast facts:
(353 words)(Newsrooms: with downloadable artPrepping Lonoke Co field - www.flickr.com/photos/uacescomm/24941168775Field rows in NE Arkansas - www.flickr.com/photos/uacescomm/24575049769)
LONOKE, Ark. – As the calendar counts down to spring, Arkansas farmers are taking advantage of late winter dry weather to get some field work done ahead of planting.
“We were not able to do much fall tillage, so farmers are trying to catch up and take advantage of the dry weather,” Keith Perkins, Lonoke County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said on Wednesday.
Despite spring-like high temperatures that followed the Jan. 21-22 snowfall, many fields were still too wet to work, thanks to an abundance of flood-making precipitation in November and December. Stuttgart saw 11.11 inches of rain in November, Keiser 10.41 inches. Jonesboro accumulated 12.12 inches. Dardanelle in the Arkansas River Valley saw more than a foot of rain in December, 7.87 inches above the norm.
In Prairie County, “we have a few farmers tilling the soil where fields were rutted during the later harvest,” said Brent Griffin, Prairie County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “Some land leveling is being done where people still have some money to spend.”
In Phillips County on the Mississippi River, “the work seems to be temperature dependent,” said Robert Goodson, county extension agent for the Division of Agriculture. “As long as the weather is warm and sunny there are a few acres being tilled. There are more acres, though, that have been sprayed with an herbicide for burndown, but again, this is based on temperature.
“But just wait ‘til this cold spell is over, because by then a lot of people will be itching to get started on field work for this year,” he said.
Dark clouds
However, the sunny skies belie the feelings of some farmers headed into the 2016 growing season. With low commodity prices and and increasing input costs, the ability to save dollars wherever possible has the highest priority.
“It’s very dismal across the Grand Prairie,” Griffin said. “Growers I spoke with said, ‘It is cheaper to go ahead and prepare the seedbed than to continue working in the shop and spending money like going out of style on repairs’."
For more information about crop production, contact your county extension office or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
# # #
Media Contact: Mary HightowerDir. of Communication ServicesU of A Division of Agriculture(501) 671-2126mhightower@uada.edu
Related Links