arkansas

Buried deep below the soil surface, groundwater may be out of sight. Increasingly, though, the natural resource is anything but out of mind. Several efforts, both voluntary and regulatory, are ongoing to try to reduce groundwater overdraft and increase recharge....

• By Tommy Butts • Spray water quality, specifically pH and hardness, can impact the efficacy of numerous pesticides. It has been shown that as water pH increases into more alkaline or basic conditions (pH greater than 7), pesticide active...

• By Ryan McGeeney • Arkansas growers intend to plant about 1.39 million acres of rice in 2020, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released March 31. The acreage is a rebound from 2019’s 1.15 million acres but...

• By Ryan McGeeney • Finally, some rice is in the ground. Barely. Jarrod Hardke, Extension rice agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said Thursday that a handful of growers began water-seeding rice, a technique that typically...

• By Emily Woodall • Growers in Arkansas' rice belt are enduring a repeat of the 2019 spring — unseasonably wet weather that has mostly kept them out of their fields. "We had about five days in a row a few...

As concerns over declining groundwater levels in Arkansas increase, some farmers have built their own reservoirs to ensure adequate irrigation for their crops. Groundwater use from the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, which supports the Arkansas Delta, has increased over...

If you’ve ever wanted to fly, here’s an opportunity to start getting your wings. The fourth annual Arkansas Drone/Unmanned Aircraft Systems Summit will take place March 12-13 with simultaneous events in Fayetteville and Little Rock. Registration is now open. Drone experts...

Bucket traps aid University of Arkansas research into new row-rice pest, control measures. • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • University of Arkansas entomologists continue their quest to learn more about the rice levee billbug, a weevil pest that until recently only caused...

When it comes to deciding between planting rice, soybean or other crops in 2020, it’s not just a question of markets and futures contracts. For many growers, it’s a question of when the ground will be dry enough to...

While 2019 was doom and gloom for rice producers, 2020 may be the year of the rebound for the state’s largest agricultural export, with total Arkansas rice acreage expected to increase 25% to nearly 1.5 million acres. “We’re expecting a...

With a spike in the solar industry, many landowners are leasing their property to solar developers as a form of extra income. However, these specialty leases present some unique legal concerns. The National Agricultural Law Center has published two guides...

Rich Hillman, a grower of field crops, including rice, near Carlisle was recently elected as Arkansas Farm Bureau’s new president, and Mike Freeze of Little Rock was chosen as the agriculture advocacy organization’s new vice president. Both were selected...

After a mild weekend of sunny skies and temperatures in the high 50s, much of Arkansas found itself dealing with widespread rains and falling mercury throughout Monday. Tuesday, Nov. 12, the state awoke to a morning that declared itself...

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service will showcase its newest aromatic rice variety at Downtown on the Farm from 12-6 p.m., Oct. 27, at the River Market Pavilions and First Security Amphitheater in downtown...

At the edge of Chris Isbell’s rice field, three miles south of Bayou Meto, the famous duck-hunting wetland, Ben Runkle tight-rope walks the narrowest of bridges, a one-by-12 plank spanning two cinderblock towers. He’s proud of the bridge, designed...