By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture

BATESVILLE, Ark. — Homesteading appeals to those who seek self-reliance and self-sufficiency, so what better place to host a homesteading conference than in Independence County?

HOMESTEADING — Independence County will hosts its first homesteading conference on March 1. U of A Division of Agriculture graphic

The Independence County Extension Office will host the first “Homesteading with Independence” conference on March 1, with experts from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture sharing their expertise in bees, backyard poultry, small ruminants, gardening, food preservation and more.

The event will run 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Independence County Library, 267 E. Main St. in Batesville. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and workshops begin at 9:30 a.m. Space is limited to 75 people, and registration is required. The cost is $20 per person and includes lunch.

“This is our first year to have this conference,” said Julian Carpenter, family and consumer science agent with the Independence County Extension Office, part of the Division of Agriculture. “We have noticed people are becoming interested in learning how to be more self-reliant, and we want to provide the research-based education they may need.”

Experts will offer the following sessions:

Are Bees Right for Me? — Jon Zawislak, extension apiary specialist and assistant professor in urban entomology, Division of Agriculture
Backyard Poultry — Dustan Clark, extension poultry veterinarian and director of John Tyson Center for Excellence in Poultry Science, Division of Agriculture
Small Ruminant Production — Dan Quadros, extension small ruminant specialist, Division of Agriculture
Soil Health — Bill Robertson, retired extension cotton agronomist, now agronomist with CWC Farm
Food Preservation — Julian Carpenter, Independence County extension agent, Division of Agriculture
Growing Your Garden — Michelle Mobley, Independence County extension agent, Division of Agriculture
Choosing Your Enterprise — Carey Robertson, adjunct agriculture instructor, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville

For more information and to register, contact the Independence County Extension office at 870-793-8840.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

Bees are critical in food cultivation but in recent decades the number of bee colonies has sharply declined and is a significant threat to the world’s food supply. Scientists in Arkansas are doing research that could lead to ways to protect the world’s bee populations.

Olivia Kline, an entomology doctoral student at the University of Arkansas, works in the research program of Neelendra Joshi, associate professor of entomology for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. He specializes in research on pollinator health, fruit entomology, integrated pest management and pesticide toxicology.

Their research focuses on blue orchard bees, a type of mason bee native to Arkansas and many other areas in the U.S. Joshi said they are easy to identify because of their iridescent blue color. They nest in tunnels left behind by other insects, like the galleries carved out of trees and wood structures by boring beetles.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/08/researchers-aim-to-strengthen-bee-pollinator-populations/

Neelandra Joshi, associate professor of pollinator health, fruit entomology, IPM and pesticide toxicology, shows how masonry bees build nests in tubes designed to simulate the kind of cavities the bees prrefer to use for nesting. (UA System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)

‘Homesteading with Independence’ conference planned for March 1

Researchers Aim to Strengthen Bee Pollinator Populations