• By Ryan McGeeney • As world markets slowly unfurl from the global knot of the COVID-19 pandemic, futures markets for both soybean and corn responded in a powerfully positive manner March 31 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Prospective Plantings Report. The report, conducted by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, reflects producers’ intended acreage for crops across ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service has released its perspective planting report for 2021, and it shows a reduction in rice plantings of about 326,000 acres — or about 11% — nationwide compared to 2020. Based on surveys that asked growers how many acres they plant to plant, USDA projects about 2.71 million acres of planted rice ... Read More »
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced an expansion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 provides additional CFAP assistance for producers of eligible row crops under CFAP 2. Row crops eligible for CFAP 2 include: alfalfa, amaranth grain, barley, buckwheat, canola, corn, Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton, upland cotton, crambe (colewort), einkorn, emmer, ... Read More »
• By Jamison Cruce • The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the Pandemic Assistance for Producers (PAP) initiative that provides aid to agricultural producers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The $12 billion initiative contains four parts, including $4.5 billion in direct payments to farmers as provided for in the COVID aid package passed and signed into law in December ... Read More »
• By Ryan McGeeney • Although the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed many human activities, it hasn’t stopped feral hogs from reproducing and causing damage. Throughout 2021, the Cooperative Extension Service, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and other partnering organizations, is reaching out to residents to help reduce populations of the rampaging ... Read More »
If there’s any wisdom we can glean from the unprecedented events of the past year, it’s how important it is to support each other and our communities and come together during tough times. The U.S. rice industry takes that lesson to heart, both in our own backyards and beyond our borders. International food aid was one of our greatest cumulative ... Read More »
• By Ryan McGeeney • Despite a year dominated by major weather systems run amuck and a global pandemic, most of Arkansas’ major crops came out ahead in 2020, according to a Jan. 12 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Overall, Arkansas growers harvested about 6.74 million acres of commodity crops in 2020, not including fruits and other specialty ... Read More »
Agricultural producers and private landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program can sign up for the program through Feb. 12. The competitive program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, provides annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes. “This signup for the Conservation Reserve Program gives producers and landowners an opportunity to enroll for the first ... Read More »
Researchers at four higher education institutions have begun work on a federally funded project that will focus on determining better management techniques for burning crop residues. The project director is Dr. Aaron M. Shew, assistant professor and R.E.L. Wilson Chair of Agricultural Economics in Arkansas State University’s College of Agriculture. He is working with researchers from the University of Arkansas, ... Read More »
Even with a projected acreage increase, the market appears better than 2017 as long as demand doesn’t wane. • By Kurt Guidry • The current rice market continues to show strength despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the prospects for larger acreage and larger production levels in 2020. In Louisiana, current cash offers for old crop rice have been able to ... Read More »
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