News - August 2017

Will it be a 2017 or 2018 Farm Bill? Webinar presents insight on new farm bill debate

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will host a webinar about the new farm bill currently being debated in Congress. 

Beekeeping short course buzzing into Batesville this September

LITTLE ROCK – Batesville will be hosting a three-night short course for wannabe beekeepers on Sept. 11, 18 and 25 at the University of Arkansas Community College Batesville. 

In Arkansas, neighbor helping neighbor harvest as Harvey’s heavy rain looms

BRADLEY, Ark.  – Arkansas farmers were rolling combines full tilt in an effort to save harvest-ready crops from Hurricane Harvey’s messy remnants.

Stockpiling fescue way for extending grazing season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It’s still summer, but now is the time to be thinking about stockpiling forage for the winter, said Dirk Philipp, associate professor-animal science, for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

2017 Forestry Workshop: 'To cut or not to cut'

HOPE, Ark. – Landowners considering harvesting and selling their timber, but want to know how to estimate its value and make the best sale, can learn how Sept. 14 during the 2017 Forestry Workshop at the Southwest Research and Extension Center.

Award named for Division of Ag researcher and wife presented to inaugural recipient

JOSEPH, Mich. – An award named for a University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture professor and his wife has been presented for the first time.

Fall Walk Across Arkansas begins Sept. 17

LITTLE ROCK – Does your fitness program need a little boost now that the summer is winding down? The fall edition of Walk Across Arkansas begins Sept. 17 and runs through Nov. 11.

Commodity futures prices drop sharply in wake of new USDA production estimates

LITTLE ROCK – Prices for most commodities have taken a beating in the week since the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Aug. 10 Arkansas Crop Production report.

John Clark wins National Plant Breeders Association Impact Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John R. Clark, Distinguished Professor of Horticulture and director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture fruit breeding program, received the National Association of Plant Breeders Impact Award during the NAPB Annual Meeting Aug. 7-10 in Davis, California.

Emergency forum on redbanded stink bug set for Aug. 17

LONOKE, Ark. and STONEVILLE, Miss.  – August has shaped up as an explosive month for a difficult-to-control and highly damaging pest in soybean, prompting organization of the Ark-La-Miss Emergency Forum on Redbanded stink bug, set for Aug. 17 at the Capps Center in Stoneville, Mississippi.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Behind the pale walls and barred windows of the Garland County Detention Center sits a green garden. A sign anchored in the soil, standing above the plants reads: “The Teaching Garden.”

Second NEREC dicamba field day scheduled for Aug. 15

KEISER, Ark. – The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will be hosting a second field day with a focus on dicamba at the Northeast Research and Extension Center on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Division of Agriculture researchers testing blackberry trellis for feasibility in state

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – Researchers with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Fruit Research Station are looking at the potential for an innovative trellis system to increase overall blackberry production in the state.

Arkansas 4-H forestry team claims national championship for second year

WESTON, W. Va. — For the second year in a row, four Arkansans took the national title at the National 4-H Forestry Invitational.

As rice harvest approaches, growers hope for higher temperatures, less rain

STUTTGART, Ark. – After a tumultuous spring, in which rains and flooding upended more than 10 percent of total rice acreage throughout Arkansas, swallowing sunk input costs and costing the state an estimated $175 million in crop losses, the nation’s No. 1 rice producer is slowly moving toward harvest.

Potassium test tool to be on display at upcoming Pine Tree field day via kitchen drawer

MARIANNA, Ark. – As anyone who works with their hands will tell you, the simplest tools can be the hardest to improve upon. At the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Soil Testing Laboratory in Marianna, however, researchers may have done the next best thing.

Division of Ag researchers find volatility in all dicamba formulations they tested

KEISER, Ark. –  Work done by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture has found that every dicamba formulation its researchers tested demonstrated volatility, and they also found that some formulations could continue to volatilize at least 36 hours after application and move from the target site in spite of the most label-compliant application efforts.  

Downloadable actualities are available. 

Governor to sign Arkansas Farmers Market Week proclamation

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson will sign a proclamation this Friday, declaring Aug. 6-12 as Farmers Market Week in the State of Arkansas.

Cooler than average temps boost primocane blackberry crop

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — Unusually mild temperatures in June and much of July yielded a bonus in the primocane blackberry plots at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Fruit Research Station.

Soybean Science Challenge launches gardening project

LITTLE ROCK — The Soybean Science Challenge, a program that encourages Arkansas high school students to study innovative and scientific aspects of the state’s No. 1 crop, has launched Grow Your Own Protein, a program designed to help school and community gardens benefit their respective constituents through a closer connection with agriculture.

Stenholm: Political system ‘absolutely broken,’ stymieing Farm Bill

STUTTGART, Ark. — A deeply divided Congress and nation make passing legislation, such as the Farm Bill, an increasingly difficult task, said Charlie Stenholm, former ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and keynote speaker at the 2017 Arkansas Rice Expo.

 Division of Agriculture researchers receive grant for cover crop study

JONESBORO, Ark. – Researchers with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will study the efficacy of using cover crops in reducing growers’ nitrogen fertilizer needs, retaining soil moisture, and growing profit margins during a three-year demonstration scheduled to begin this fall.

Soybean season aided by cooler temps, but herbicide drift leaves statewide yield in question

LITTLE ROCK – The soybean harvest may still be more than two months out, but unseasonably cool temperatures could propel some growers in the state toward a very strong harvest in 2017.

Extension demo plot shows most economic management tool during heavy fall armyworm year   

NEAR STAR CITY, Ark. – Fall armyworms don’t bother with calendars. They’re here, they’re hungry and – never mind that it’s mid-summer – they’re in their second generation.

Researchers add gene editing to rice research toolbox

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Rice scientists are developing advanced gene editing tools for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture crop breeding toolbox.