News - December 2023

Cooperative Extension Service to host four federal crop insurance workshops in early 2024

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service will host four workshops addressing federal crop insurance in January and February of 2024.

Arkansas 4-H Tech Changemakers, Video Crew debut National 4-H documentary in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Ark. — Members of the Arkansas 4-H Tech Changemakers team and Arkansas 4-H Video Crew were recognized by National 4-H for their technology skills and community outreach in a short documentary, which premiered at the Grand Prairie Job Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas, on Dec. 13.

Feral hogs, electronic grading, H2A on the agenda for 2024 Tri-State Soybean Forum set for Jan. 5 in Louisiana

LONOKE, Ark. — Feral hog management, H2A guest farm worker updates and electronic grading are among the items on the agenda for the 2024 Tri-State Soybean forum as it rotates to Louisiana on Jan. 5.

NALC’s Pittman, Brown featured in foreign ownership panel at national event

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — National Agricultural Law Center Director Harrison Pittman and Staff Attorney Micah Brown will participate in a panel on foreign ownership of U.S. land at one of the nation’s premier agricultural events in January.

YEAREND: As drought tightened cattle production, 2023 markets soared

LITTLE ROCK — Cattle market prices are as high as they’ve been in a decade. That’s good news for producers who have been able to maintain their herds in recent years, but a missed opportunity for those who weren’t.

YEAREND: Farm Bill, foreign ownership, WOTUS, drought among year’s top ag stories

LITTLE ROCK — Three words defined the big picture for agriculture in 2023: weather, politics and courts.

YEAREND: Arkansas soybeans on course for record yield in 2023

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For soybean farmers in 2023, intermittent rains helped push the yield envelope to an estimated state record of 53 bushels per acre, said Jeremy Ross, soybean extension agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

YEAREND: 2023 was a good year for Arkansas corn and wheat

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite “greensnapped” corn stalks from damaging Delta winds, Arkansas corn fared better in 2023 than 2022 with increases in yield and acres harvested.

YEAREND: 2023 Arkansas peanut yield could top 2017 record

LITTLE ROCK — Despite a battle with early southern blight, Arkansas peanut growers are on track for the highest yield the state has seen in the past 10 years.

YEAREND: A slow start and a strong finish for Arkansas strawberries, blackberries in 2023

LITTLE ROCK — Although the tail end of 2022 proved worrisome for Arkansas strawberries and blackberries, 2023 brought brighter days and better conditions.

YEAREND: Fertilizer prices ease, commodity prices fall from pre-season predictions

LITTLE ROCK — The prices farmers receive for their crops is never determined in a vacuum — with war, weather and whatever else is going on with the global economy all having an effect.

YEAREND: Consumers see better prices in 2023, despite ongoing challenges for the poultry industry

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite the ongoing challenge of avian influenza and recent plant closures, the poultry industry bounced back from a difficult 2022, resulting in lower chicken, turkey and egg prices for consumers in 2023. 

The future of Arkansas agriculture: High school students hear from Division of Ag specialists

STUTTGART, Ark. — Students from four Delta school districts got to see agriculture in a new way — through the eyes of scientists and educators — at an event hosted by the Arkansas County Extension Office at the Rice Research and Extension Center. 

Can I sell this salsa? Jan. 10 webinar gives specialty crop producers an overview of Arkansas Food Freedom Act

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Food Freedom Act opens increased opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, but those who create food and drink items must be sure they're legal to sell under the act.

Weaver appointed director of government affairs and stakeholder engagement for U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Jeff Weaver will be joining the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture as its director for government affairs and stakeholder engagement, a new position, starting Jan. 2.

El Dorado orchard produces artisan Mayhaw jelly with help of Share Grounds program

EL DORADO, Ark. — A robust sweetness, quickly followed by a sharp, tart pucker: this is the taste of Mayhaw jelly, made from a small, apple-like fruit grown in wetlands in the southern United States. Rhonda and Ken Rudder, owners of Richland Creek Farm & Market in El Dorado, hope to share their artisan Mayhaw jelly with more Arkansans through the Cooperative Extension Service’s Share Grounds program. 

Hempstead Extension celebrates new home in Hope

HOPE, Ark. — The Hempstead County Cooperative Extension Service has moved to a new site that offers a more modern space where Hempstead County residents can access resources and services related to agriculture, 4-H, family and consumer sciences and community and economic development.

Four Fryar Center workshops to focus on risk management for farmers

LITTLE ROCK — Economists from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will be bolstering their outreach to farmers with four risk-management workshops scheduled in January and February.

Nalley, Roberts named interim department heads for ag economics; crop soil and environmental sciences

LITTLE ROCK — Come Jan. 2, Lanier Nalley and Trent Roberts will be wearing new hats, as interim department heads for agricultural economics and agribusiness and crop, soil and environmental sciences.

Bootcamp for women to provide hands-on skills for managing a cattle operation

HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. — Women who want to dive deeply into the skills needed to manage a cattle operation will have the opportunity during the Women-only Cattle Bootcamp set for Feb. 22-24 in north-central Arkansas.

Division of Agriculture looks to make Arkansas healthier through DFEND program

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s easier and cheaper than you may think to eat healthy, get exercise and de-stress. It just requires a little inspirational education, and maybe a little chair yoga after your taco bowl.

Agents, specialists honored at Cooperative Extension conference

LITTLE ROCK — Faculty and staff at the Cooperative Extension Service reached thousands of Arkansans in 2023 through innovative programs such as cooking schools and nutrition education for adults and youth, expanded opportunities for youth through 4-H, and community development to help Arkansas communities thrive.

Arkansas ag economist helps producers develop risk-management strategies

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Weather. Markets. Global events. Farmers still have to produce the world’s food amid a world of uncontrollable factors.

Arkansas 4-H members compete at National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ten Arkansas 4-H members put their poultry knowledge and cooking skills to the test at the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, during the North American International Livestock Exposition at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center Nov. 15-16.

Will they cut or won’t they? Fed committee meets in mid-December to decide fate of interest rates

LITTLE ROCK — When it comes to making decisions on interest rates, the consumer price expenditure index, or CPE, is something the Federal Reserve pays a great deal of attention, said Ryan Loy, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Kariyat: Global study on plant-herbivore interactions ‘opens window of possibilities’

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Plant life is a hard life when it comes to fending off insects, and the further one gets from the equator the more difficult it can be, according to a study on plant-insect interactions published last month in the journal Science.

Arkansas rice companies partner with University of Arkansas campus food pantry

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In 2023, three Arkansas-based rice companies helped address food insecurity at the University of Arkansas by donating hundreds of pounds of rice to the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry.

Picture is brighter for off-the-track thoroughbreds

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For many thoroughbreds, the end of their racing career is not the end of the line.

SIDEBAR: The art of rehoming a racehorse

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Since acquiring her first thoroughbred in 1985, Sandy Hamm Martini has been on a mission to help off-the-track horses get a second chance.

Global supply, seasonal shift lead to lower cattle market prices

LITTLE ROCK — After an impressively bullish first half of the year, market prices for beef cattle have fallen in recent months, owing in part to reports reflecting an increased supply.

Cooperative Extension Service offering two avian influenza webinars in December

LITTLE ROCK — As one of the nation’s leading poultry-producing states, Arkansas has a keen interest in reducing the spread of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, often referred to as HPAI. To support that effort, the Cooperative Extension Service — the outreach and education arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture — is hosting two HPAI webinar workshops in December.