News - September 2019

Four graduate students named 2019 soybean fellows; honor has lasting effects

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Four graduate students in varying life science disciplines have been named 2019 Arkansas soybean fellows.

Arkansas co-leads $10 million multi-university grant to transform water use and nutrition in poultry production

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas research, extension and teaching faculty, in collaboration with Cornell University, are part of an ambitious and wide-ranging $9.95 million multi-university grant that seeks to enhance poultry nutrition and well-being, improve the industry’s water use and better prepare college students for careers in poultry.

Overnight storming in northeastern Arkansas may slow harvest in some counties

JONESBORO, Ark. — Heavy wind and rain that blew across much of northeastern Arkansas and surrounding areas Wednesday night and Thursday morning will likely impact both rice and cotton harvests, as growers try to make the most of otherwise favorable conditions.

Incoming Poultry Science department head embraces new opportunities with industry, research, teaching

UNDATED – Dave Caldwell, the incoming head of the Department of Poultry Science, is eager to embrace the challenges faced by industry and work with faculty to bolster its land grant mission of research, extension and teaching.

Arkansas scientists investigate effects of high nighttime air temperatures on rice quality

STUTTGART, Ark. — Arkansas scientists are working to develop rice varieties that are tolerant of Arkansas’ frequent high nighttime air temperatures, a condition that can significantly reduce yields and post-harvest quality.

Hemp webinar talks CBD legality, THC testing

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Unanswered questions for industrial hemp production in the United States has the industry watching the United States Department of Agriculture closely as they await regulations, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.

Division of Agriculture researchers to study influences on bovine respiratory disease under USDA grant

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a $400,000 grant to a team of faculty researchers within the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture to study the respiratory microbiome and metatranscriptome of beef cattle and their influences on bovine respiratory disease. 

U of A Division of Agriculture, Bumpers College celebrate 15-year academic and research pact with Ghent University

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture this week hosted four faculty members from Belgium’s Ghent University, celebrating 15 years of cooperative research between Ghent and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. 

Cooperative Extension Service celebrates 50 years of food and nutrition education

LITTLE ROCK – Food and consumer science agents, program associates and other public education professionals celebrated the 50^th anniversary of one of the most successful nutritional outreach programs earlier this month, as the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, or EFNEP, turned 50.

Autumn Walk Across Arkansas opens Sept. 29; walkers can also contribute to improving the program

LITTLE ROCK — Taking the first steps toward improved fitness may be as easy as registering for the fall edition of Walk Across Arkansas, a program that rang up an estimated quarter million dollars in healthcare savings during its eight-week run in the spring.

Greening of Arkansas grant applications due Oct. 31

LITTLE ROCK – The deadline to apply for community beautification funding through the Greening of Arkansas grant program has been extended this year to Oct. 31.

Late-planted Arkansas crops a haven for pests

MARIANNA, Ark. – When relentless spring rains pushed the planting window wide open, entomologists predicted problems for Arkansas row-crops. That has certainly proven true for the state’s late-planted cotton, soybeans and rice, said Gus Lorenz, extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Arkansas entrepreneurs seeking to expand their businesses invited to National PTAC Day open house Sept. 18

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses through government contracts are invited to join an open house in Little Rock on Sept. 18 to mark National PTAC Day.

Multiple options available for producers working to manage cattle nutrients

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Cattle convert grass into meat, but in doing so they have to roam large areas to gather sufficient amounts of plant tissue for growth and maintenance. Dirk Philipp, associate professor of animal science for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that in doing so, cattle redistribute nutrients and concentrate them in a confined area. 

Arkansas scientists employ machine learning to manage corn crops more efficiently

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A team of researchers from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the University of Arkansas College of Engineering are designing tiny sensors that can be placed in corn stalks to monitor water, nitrogen and potassium needs in real time.

Small ruminant ranch tour taking Arkansans to Texas in October

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A visit to sheep and goat ranches, feed mills, a livestock auction and more are all on the agenda for a small ruminant ranch tour for Arkansas producers in October.

New 4-H officers to engage leadership, advocacy in 2019-2020

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas 4-H announced the new state officers during the annual 4-H State O-Rama held in Fayetteville on the University of Arkansas campus.

Student intern gets research experience with Division of Agriculture scientist

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ioannis Tzanetakis, professor of plant virology at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, received help from a student intern this summer with a project on the epidemiology of berry and ornamental viruses.

Hemp webinar to discuss possible regulation announcements

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 2018 Farm Bill has opened a window of opportunity for cultivation of industrial hemp – an industry whose products were valued at nearly $700 million in 2016. However, before U.S. growers can go all out for industrial hemp, there’s a regulatory waiting game that needs to play out.

Forage plots in wooded areas are on the rise with landowners

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —  There is increasing interest in planting forages into wooded areas, as food plots for wildlife or to provide more grazing ground for cattle, said Dirk Philipp, associate professor of animal science for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

High school students get first-hand look at sustainability during Sept. 24 field trip

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – “Sustainability” is a word used a lot, but what does it really mean in terms of how we grow our food and fiber? More than 200 high school students will see how that answer plays out during the Sept. 24 Environmental and Agricultural Sustainability Field trip at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Southern soybean breeders meet to compare notes, collaborate

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Soybean breeders from southern public research institutions and agricultural industries, meeting at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station headquarters this week, were focusing on a question that has taken a back seat in the past: What happens to soybeans after farmers grow them?

Low forage protein portends higher supplemental feed costs for ranchers this winter

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The intermittent rains that have saturated Arkansas for most of the past year have taken their toll on forage quality, confirming the suspicions of producers and forage quality researchers alike.