A Farmer’s Reflections on the Current Crisis
COVID-19 is touching every aspect of society and in agriculture it is bringing a new spiral of anxiety to the “normal” stress anticipating a new growing season.
Feature
Rice Farming 101
September is National Rice Month, and Arkansas produces more rice than any other state. Trent Dabbs comes from a long line of rice farmers. The Arkansas County, fourth-generation rice farmer has a serious passion for what he does. In our series, “Rows and Ranches,” Trent describes the planting process.
Family, Faith & Growing a Business
Six generations of the Post family have been making juice and wine in Arkansas for more than 100 years. Earlier this month, Post patriarch Mathew turned 94 years old, so we thought we’d share this special video about the family’s business, their beliefs and their unique corner of the Arkansas agriculture industry.
Farmer Profile: John Wallace
Knowing where your food comes from means getting to know the farmers how grow or raise it. That’s why we like to regularly turn the spotlight on some of the Arkansas farmers and ranchers who are working hard to put food on tables around the country and the world. This week, we introduce you to […]
13 Things You Didn’t Know Were Made From Sweet Potatoes
February 22 is National Cook a Sweet Potato Day, and we wanted to recognize the fact that Arkansas is one of the country’s top producers of these healthy, delicious vegetables. Records from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture show that farmers in eight counties grew sweet potatoes on 5,000 acres in 2017, a crop valued at […]
Rural Focus: Highland Pellets in Pine Bluff
It’s been a wet winter in Arkansas, and that can be a challenge for a business that relies on dry wood. The Highland Pellets plant in Pine Bluff, which opened in 2016, needs trees to produce the tiny wood pellets it makes and ships to the United Kingdom for use by British power company, Drax. […]
Farmer Q&A: The Wootens
Q & A Conversation with Poultry Farmers O’Neil & Casey Wooten O’Neil Wooten is a poultry farmer growing broiler chickens for Foster Farms on his Strong, Arkansas farm in Union County. O’Neil’s son Casey and daughter Wendi Laster live on the farm with their families and have their own broiler contracts with Foster Farms. Between […]
Growing Sweet Potatoes Part 2
Shawn Peebles of Woodruff is one of a select group of sweet potato growers in Arkansas and the only grower of organic sweet potato growers in the state. He and other sweet potato farmers are busy harvesting their crop in time to get them to grocery stores for the holiday meal season. In this second […]
Growing Sweet Potatoes Part 1
Fall is officially here, but, in typical Arkansas fashion, it doesn’t quite feel like it yet. Nevertheless, Thanksgiving will be here in no time, and that means it’s also “sweet potato season.” Growers like Shawn Peebles of Woodruff are busy pulling their crop from the ground in time to get them to groceries and on […]
Lock, Stock & Barrel: The Ralstons, Part 2
Tim and Robin Ralston saw an opportunity in milling and packaging their own rice, but that opportunity was a huge risk. It still is, but they are feeling good about their decision. Tim says they mill everything they grow. “But when you stack it up against some of the big corporate mills, it’s really very, […]