CBD Oils: Do you know what's inside?

By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Since the 2018 Farm Bill effectively legalized hemp-derived cannabidiol — better known as CBD — there’s been an exponential growth in products hitting the market, but a newly published study suggests consumer understanding of the products has not kept pace.

“You’ve now got new products on the market that have never been there before, and so there's a pretty long learning curve for the average consumer,” said Brandon McFadden, professor and researcher of agricultural economics and agribusiness in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

HITTING THE SHELVES — CBD products are seen displayed in a retail case. Mention or depiction of product names does not imply endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. (Photo by Kimberly Boyles - stock.adobe.com)

CBD oils go by many names and contain a variety of ingredients. For example, “CBD isolate” only contains CBD, but “full-spectrum CBD” contains other compounds such as terpenes and flavonoids, which can contribute to aroma, flavor and overall therapeutic effects.

Full-spectrum CBD also can contain up to up to 0.3 percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, by weight — the legal threshold set by the federal government for hemp-derived CBD products.

Products with THC levels above this threshold would be classified as marijuana and considered illegal under federal law. THC is known for its psychoactive properties, but there is debate on whether any psychotropic or intoxicating effects are felt for THC levels below 1 percent, McFadden noted.

Considering the many types of CBD products and their distinctions, McFadden led a study surveying consumers to gauge their confusion when it came to product names. Those surveyed completed two product selection tasks. In both selection tasks, consumers chose between CBD isolate, hemp oil, full-spectrum CBD and broad-spectrum CBD, which is a middle ground between the isolate and full-spectrum choices and contains no THC.

In one task, respondents were provided the common name of three CBD oil products, as well as hemp oil, and were asked to imagine they were purchasing 1000-mg CBD oil for themselves or a loved one. In the other task, they were faced with the same choice but were given more information about the products’ contents. The content information included concentration levels of CBD and THC, as well as the presence of additional compounds.

MAKING YOUR CHOICE — The figure accompanied the study "Consumer Confusion About Product Names Commonly Used to Describe Hemp-Based Oils" and shows examples of the selection tasks survey respondents faced as part of the study. Mention or depiction of product names does not imply endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. (Figure originally appeared in study)

The consumers surveyed included those who had reported previous CBD purchases and those who had not. 

The study, “Consumer Confusion About Product Names Commonly Used to Describe Hemp-Based Oils,” was published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs in February.

McFadden said he was surprised by the study’s finding that there was significant interest in CBD isolate among those surveyed who had not previously used CBD products.

“It did seem like there were consumers who were potentially interested in purchasing CBD, but because there was such a learning curve and a lack of knowledge, they wouldn’t participate in the market,” McFadden said.

The findings also showed that for consumers with a strong preference, it was not easy to identify their preferred product based on product name alone. In fact, some consumers who reported previously purchasing CBD products had difficulty distinguishing between CBD oil types.

Co-authors of the study included Kawsheha Muraleetharan, University of Arkansas graduate research assistant studying food science and technology; Benjamin Campbell, University of Georgia professor of agricultural and applied economics; Adam Rabinowitz, Auburn University professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology; Tyler Mark, University of Kentucky associate professor of production economics; and Michael Popp, Harold F. Ohlendorf Professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness with the Division of Agriculture. Popp is also a Bumpers College faculty member.

The work was supported in part by a grant from the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, project USDA-AMS-TM-FSMIP-G-20-0004.

Labeling made modern

To combat consumer misconceptions, McFadden pointed to the use of “smart labeling,” which uses technologies such as QR codes on product labels to allow consumers to gain more information than would fit on a printed label, especially the small bottles and containers in which CBD products are often packaged.

“It’s a very powerful tool across all products to provide more consumers with more information, fostering consumer education, which is particularly important for things like new products like CBD,” McFadden said.

McFadden added that these QR codes can take consumers not just to text on product information but to other media, such as videos, to aid in educating those who may not have done prior research.

“So that’s why providing them information at the point of purchase can be very important because they’re unlikely to spend much time before going to a store selling it,” he said.

Mention or depiction of product names does not imply endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

Wholesale egg prices are decreasing, but expect delay in lower prices at grocery stores

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The national average wholesale price of eggs has declined, but consumers may have a wait before seeing lower prices at the grocery store, said Jada Thompson, associate professor and poultry economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

EGG PRICES —  Though wholesale egg prices have declined, consumers may experience a delay in seeing that decline reflected in grocery store prices, which averaged $5.90 per dozen eggs in February. (Division of Agriculture photo.) 

Wholesale price changes can take up to three weeks to be reflected in retail stores, so consumers are only now starting to see shelf prices gradually decline, according to the March 28 Egg Markets Overview from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In February, the average price of a dozen eggs came to $5.90.

“In the same way that just because the barrel price of oil goes down does not mean that gas prices immediately go down, there’s a delay here,” Thompson said. “Retailers get to choose their own price, and they took a lot of losses when prices were exceptionally high. They may be saying, ‘I’ve lost money over here, so I’m going to let what I have in stock go out at the price it currently is before I lower the price, to compensate for that earlier loss.’”

Thompson said that retailers often use eggs as a “loss leader,” meaning the product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate the sales of more expensive goods. She said that it serves as an incentive to bring that retail price back down.

However, with highly pathogenic avian influenza — or HPAI — still in the background and typically higher demand at Easter, there could be some price fluctuation.

“Eggs are a basic product that everybody puts in their basket, so I think there will be a pretty quick response to that,” Thompson said. “The only caveats to that are more cases of HPAI and the holiday demand. You’re going to have a little bit of extra demand for the holiday season, so you’re not necessarily going to see the prices go up, but you may see fewer eggs on the shelf. That might drive a little of the competition for those wholesale market eggs, which is eventually going to bump that price a little.”

Transportation and production input costs, including feed, can also impact the price of eggs, Thompson said.

“The cartons, the cleaners, all the things that are going into the inputs, we don’t necessarily manufacture in the United States, so with any disruption in trade there will likely be changes in cost of good, and some of those are going to affect the price of eggs or the price of inputs for those eggs,” Thomspon said.

The price of feed also goes into the cost of producing eggs, and Thompson said those change with corn and soybean prices, “so that has a whole commodity bend to it.”

Though the price of eggs is coming down, Thompson said the extent of the decline would be market-based.

“Some of the markets have been recovering,” she said. “They’ve already had new birds coming online and laying eggs again.

“Some markets are still hit pretty hard,” Thompson said. “I don’t think we’re going to see $1.99 eggs anytime soon, but I think that everybody is working really hard to get back to that.”

HPAI impact and recovery

The outbreak of HPAI in 2024 had a significant impact on the number of egg layers in the country. In 2024, 38 million layers were affected by the bird flu. An additional 30 million layers were affected in January and February 2025, impacting the total number of eggs that end up on grocery store shelves.

“Prior to the disease outbreak, we were producing about 8 billion eggs on a monthly basis,” Thompson said. “For February of 2025, we produced about 6.6 billion. From a scalability perspective, that’s why when people were talking about the high egg prices, it’s because we just don’t have the eggs.”

Thompson said that though the number of layers is still low, she is seeing those numbers coming back up.

“We see really high recovery and replenishment rates in eggs in incubators,” Thompson said. “It looks like the industry is doing an awful lot to try to bump up the number of birds as quickly as possible so that those egg numbers recover as quickly as possible.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Updated forage herbicide quick reference guide now available for download

LITTLE ROCK — The handy Forage Herbicide Quick Reference Guide from the Cooperative Extension Service has been updated and is available for download.

In just two pages, the guide, MP557, provides application rates, cost per acre, hay or grazing restrictions and comments and precautions for more than a dozen commonly used herbicides.

“We added new herbicides, updated the costs per acre and made the hay or grazing restrictions easier to find,” said Hannah Wright-Smith, extension weed specialist - turfgrass, vegetation management, and specialty crops. “The comments and precautions were also updated to reflect current recommendations.”

The publication reflects Arkansas research conducted in the past years by Wright-Smith.

The guide’s authors are Wright-Smith; David Nistler, horticulture weed management program associate and Jonathan Kubesch, assistant professor and extension forage specialist.

The Cooperative Extension Service, which conducts outreach for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has thousands of publications available online on a range of topics.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

Quick reference guide — The two-page MP557 has seen updates in the herbicides lists, costs to apply and other items. (U of A System Division of Agriculture image)

Forecast with massive rain may mean planting do-overs for Arkansas farmers

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
April 2, 2025

LITTLE ROCK — As forecasts call for up to 10 inches of rain through Sunday, the immediate future for Arkansas farmers will probably involve clearing ditches, with a good likelihood next week will be taken up with replanting and reworking fields, extension specialists said.

Planting of the state’s commodities has begun, with Monday’s Crop Progress report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing 22 percent of the state’s corn crop planting and 3 percent already emerged.  Rice was 8 percent planted and 1 percent emerged. Soybeans were 5 percent planted. Winter wheat, usually harvested in summer, was 11 percent headed.

While rain is usually a welcome event, the expected deluge can wash away plant beds and any newly emerged seedlings.

PICRYL Image

“I’ve been telling guys to hold off,” said Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.  “We’ll probably need to repull beds that have been freshly pulled.”

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of the state through April 6.

“There’s not much you can do with that much rain in a short amount of time,” said Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate for the Division of Agriculture. “You want to have all the ditches and pipes open.”

In northeastern Arkansas, “everybody around here has water furrows run — a good effort on drainage,” Stiles said.

“Backing up of the rivers, streams and bayous will be the story,” said Jarrod Hardke, rice extension agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “Low ground that’s already planted may be wiped out regardless of the crop planted there.”

Hardke said “rice will survive the best, but levees will be the issue. They’ll get washed out and blown and have to be repulled and reseeded.

“Recently planted corn and soybean are in for a wild ride for survival,” he said. “Cool temperatures may help buy them some time but staying flooded or saturated for four-plus days is a bad recipe for emerged seedlings and fresh planted seed.”

The cotton and peanut growers, with their later planting dates, might dodge a bullet.

“We haven’t begun to plant yet,” said Zachary Treadway, extension cotton and peanut agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “If we end up getting all the rain they’re calling for, we could see delays, either from extremely wet ground that takes a long time to dry, and/or replants taking priority.

Crop insurance considerations

Stiles said that for crop insurance purposes April 1 is the earliest planting date for rice, with April 15 being the earliest planting date for soybeans.

“Rice or soybeans that have already been planted are not eligible for replant payments from crop insurance,” he said.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

And they’re off! Crop planting is underway in Arkansas

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Planting season is underway for Arkansas farmers, with corn growers first to getting seed in the ground, according to the Crop Progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

The statistics service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues weekly crop progress and condition reports during the growing season.

PLANTING TIME — First rice planting date study was planted March 18, 2025, at the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart. Typically the late March to early April planting window results in the highest grain yields at this location. (Photo by Jarrod Hardke)

Monday’s report showed Arkansas corn 2 percent planted, compared to 1 percent at this time last year and the 1 percent five-year average.

The report also said that 3 percent of the state’s winter wheat was forming grain heads. That compared to 1 percent at this time last year and to the zero percent five-year average. More than half of the winter wheat crop — 58 percent — was rated in good to excellent condition.

Corn

Jason Kelley, wheat and feed grains agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said planting corn now is not unexpected.

“It's 80 degrees and it's dry and it's mid-March,” Kelley said. “It's hard to not plant something, but producers still have concerns about a potential late season cold snap, so up to date, planting has started slow but will be picking up speed as we near late March.”

In some years, corn planting may start on a very limited basis as early as late February in the southern tier of counties in Arkansas, but not this year due to wet weather.

“With corn, our planting date studies have shown there is a fairly wide window when we can maximize yields, generally up to late April, so planting early may be beneficial some years, but getting the optimum stand is what we are really shooting for,” Kelley said
“I think overall the acreage will be up this year,” he said. “2024 was a little bit of a down year as far as acreage with  500,000 acres. In 2023, we had about 750,000 acres.

Kelley said he expected 2025 to see “a little bit of a rebound” given a somewhat more optimistic outlook for corn prices than other commodities.

Rice

While corn was the only crop to make the report for planting, Jarrod Hardke, rice extension agronomist for the Division of Agriculture said there may have been two or three rice growers who got started last week.

This week, many rice growers were doing field prep, but “planting is beginning to pick up speed and by this coming weekend it will really be getting cranked up,” Hardke said.

Weather is a concern, with very low humidity and high winds. The March 14 storms that spawned deadly tornadoes, didn’t bring a lot of rain.

“Rains were variable with some growers receiving 1-2 inches while others may have technically gotten a little rainfall overnight, but by the morning they didn't know whether they had or not because it was so dry,” he said.

Red flag warnings covered most counties of the state on Wednesday, with wind advisories covering the rest. The next opportunity for rain would be on Sunday.

“That rain will be welcome to put a little moisture back to the soil and encourage a bigger start to planting,” Hardke said.

Soybeans

Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist, said soybean planting was just getting started.

“A lot of ground is ready to plant, but we didn’t see the February planting that we have seen the last two years due to rain events over the past month,” he said. “If the weather holds, we could have a significant portion of the soybean crop planted in the next few weeks. 

“I’m anticipating soybean acreage to be about what we have seen the past two years,” Ross said. “Our acreage should remain around the 3 million acres mark, but we could see some changes one way of the other depending on how planting progresses over the next two months. 

“We are just now getting into the early planting window for the southern part of the state, and we still have time to get the soybean crop planted to maximize yields,” he said.

Cotton and peanuts

“Both cotton and peanuts will start probably the third week of April,” said Zachary Treadway, extension agronomist for cotton and peanuts.

“If you're planting past the last day of May you've gone too late,” he said. “In a perfect world all of our planting will  come between April 20 and May 20 — that’s if the planting season is kind to us.”

“We have some issues last year where it was cool and rained and planting got dragged out and some planting got abandoned all together,” Treadway said.

Soil temperature is the cue for cotton growers to get seed in the ground. “They need a consistent 65 degrees at about four inches of soil depth, he said.

Treadway said that considering the market, he expects to see cotton acres decline slightly in Arkansas while peanut acres may increase.

Price and acreage rollercoaster

Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate, said the markets may do some reshaping of expected acres. USDA will issue its annual Prospective Plantings report on March 31, giving an overview of farmers’ intentions for the 2025 growing season.

Like Treadway, Stiles expected cotton acres to run lower.

The National Cotton Council “had Arkansas' cotton acres down 7 percent to 604,000,” Stiles said. “That’s not a surprise and some think cotton acres may be even lower than that. Cotton prices for the 2025 crop touched 70 cents last Friday and again Monday but didn't stay there long.

“With the heavy supply situation in cotton, there's little incentive today for it to encourage acres. With so much of the U.S. cotton crop grown in Texas, we may see some weather-related price improvement later in the growing season,” Stiles said.

Corn and soybean prices peaked around February 20th, but “unfortunately, both of those have run out of gas,” Stiles said. There was quick run-up in rice last week, but that rally fell flat too.

“Corn is about 40 cents off its February highs and soybean about 60 cents off its highs,” he said.Since making a recent top March 11, new crop rice futures have pulled back about 23 cents per bushel. The commodities are nervously watching all the global trade dynamics and trying to figure it all out.

“Seasonally, we generally see prices for corn and soybeans work higher through planting and oftentimes peaking by mid-June if crop conditions are favorable,” Stiles said.

If there's any good news to report, it's probably the pullback in diesel prices. 

“Diesel futures are trading around $2.20 today and that's 45 cents off the January high,” Stiles said on Wednesday. “It’s a little relief there as field work gets underway.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

USDA announces $10 billion for farmers amidst economic hardship, uncertainty

By Sarah Cato
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK – As farmers face high input costs, low commodity prices and a postponed farm bill, the USDA is issuing up to $10 billion in direct economic assistance to agricultural producers.

PRODUCERS STRUGGLING – With low commodity prices and high input costs, Scott Stiles said the recent funding issued by the USDA is much needed assistance for Arkansas producers. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

The Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, authorized by the American Relief Act of 2025, will provide payments to growers based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for eligible commodities for the 2024 crop year. Major Arkansas row crops that qualify include corn, soybeans, cotton, rice, peanuts and wheat.

“This assistance is greatly appreciated by growers and no doubt, they need all the help they can get,” said Scott Stiles, an extension economics program associate for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “The last few years have resulted in the most difficult economic situation that we’ve seen in the state since the mid-1980’s.

“In the background, we have now reached the third year without an updated farm bill,” Stiles said. “Arguably, you could say we’ve been operating under the same farm program provisions for the past 10 years. Persistently high input costs and a deep correction in commodity prices has producers in the state struggling. This is evidenced by the sheer number of operations that have gone out of business in the past two years.”

In order to streamline and simplify the delivery of ECAP funding, USDA’s Farm Service Agency will begin sending out pre-filled applications to producers who submitted acreage reports for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities soon after the signup period opens on March 19. Producers do not have to wait for their pre-filled ECAP application to apply, but can visit the FSA website. Stiles provides more information on eligibility, payment amounts and the application process in his most recent blog post.

“The assistance from ECAP will help, but a much improved and modernized farm policy safety net is needed for producers,” Stiles said. “Hopefully we will see some progress on that front in 2025.”

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. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

April 14 workshop aims to help Arkansans plan to keep the farm in the family

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

SEARCY, Ark. — Keeping the family farm in the family can be more complicated than many realize. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is working to help farm families and other interested Arkansans plan for the inevitable with a second succession planning meeting on April 14.

MAKE A PLAN — The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is working to help farm families and other interested Arkansans plan for the inevitable with a second succession planning meeting on April 14. (Division of Agriculture graphic.)

Sherri Sanders, White County agriculture extension agent for the Division of Agriculture, said reaction to the first session, held Feb. 25, helped shape the upcoming meeting agenda.

“Our first session got the conversation started,” Sanders said. “It’s emotional, it’s hard. You’re coming to terms with your death or retirement from your farm that’s been in the family for generations. Most people just don’t talk about it, and they think they’re OK because they’ve got a will — but a will isn’t a succession plan. It doesn’t lay out who gets what, or how the farm will be run.

“This second session is still for farmers and ranchers, but the information can really apply to anybody who wants to plan for their estate,” she said. “Because estate taxes, power of attorney and living wills affect everybody.”

Rusty Rumley, senior staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, will be the meeting’s featured speaker.

“People know they need to find an attorney, but they don’t know what to be prepared for at that first meeting,” Sanders said, noting that attorneys typically charge by the hour. “Rusty will help them understand how to prepare to meet with that attorney.”

The session will take place at 6 p.m. at the White County Extension Office, located at 2400 Old Searcy Landing Road in Searcy, Arkansas. The cost to attend is $25 per person, which includes dinner.

The deadline to register online is April 7.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Economists tackle estimating consumer effects following the loss of billions of birds and eggs lost to avian influenza

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fewer and more expensive eggs in 2024 put estimated $1.41 billion burden on consumers in 2024, according to study by a trio of researchers examining the impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza — HPAI — on the economy.

Expectations are for the price burden to continue through 2025 as producers work to repopulate laying hens lost to HPAI.

The study, “The Economic Impact of HPAI on U.S. Egg Consumers: Estimating a $1.41 Billion Loss in Consumer Surplus” was published last month by the Fryar Price Risk Management Center. It was conducted as an extension to an earlier paper, “Biological lags and market dynamics in vertically coordinated food supply chains: HPAI impacts on U.S. egg prices,” published in the journal Food Policy in 2024.

PRICE OF EGGS — Clocks in at more than $9 for 18 eggs on March 10, 2025, in Little Rock. (U of A System Division of Agriculture File photo)

The Fryar Center is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

James Mitchell, assistant professor and extension economist for the Division of Agriculture, was the lead author on both papers, which were written with Jada Thompson, associate professor and Division of Agriculture economist and Trey Malone, an economist formerly at the University of Arkansas, but now at Purdue University.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, HPAI affected 38.4 million commercial egg laying birds and 29 flocks in 2024.

“As a result, we estimate an average week-to-week increase of 9 percent in retail egg prices, independent of other sources of egg price inflation,” the authors said. Using own-price elasticities — a measure of demand responsiveness to price changes — they estimated that price increases lowered demand for eggs by 2 percent on average.

“This reduction in consumption, coupled with higher prices, led to an estimated consumer surplus loss of $1.41 billion,” the researchers said. “This estimate reflects the economic burden on consumers due to reduced availability and affordability of eggs following HPAI outbreaks.

“The magnitude of these losses underscores the importance of understanding how disease outbreaks in the egg supply chain influence consumer welfare and market dynamics,” the three authors said.

The cost of eggs

While the cost of eggs may seem to be a simple supply vs. demand equation, determining the size of the economic loss is quite a bit more complex, say the economists.

“Someone not familiar with broiler or turkey or egg production might say, ‘oh, a bird died today because of bird flu and egg prices today are impacted by that’,” Mitchell said.

HPAI has been hitting broilers, egg layers and turkey production in the U.S. and globally hard since 2022, resulting in the loss of billions of commercial birds, not to mention birds and other animals in the wild.

“Our main thesis is that you have to consider a longer timeframe,” Mitchell said. “What’s happening today is a function of what happened six months ago.”

Because of the fierceness of the current strain of HPAI, which has a mortality rate of higher than 75 percent, whole flocks are destroyed once the disease is detected. Mitchell said if a flock has to be depopulated because of avian influenza or another cause, “you’re losing egg production from that flock.

“But you don’t just replace that flock tomorrow. It takes about six months for the new birds to reach maturity and start laying eggs,” he said.

Mitchell said that when they started their initial analysis looking at 2022 data, the challenge was “how much consideration had to be given to disentangling the impacts of bird flu from other things that were happening in 2022.”

Economic aftershocks from the COVID pandemic and the Ukraine war and resulting higher grain prices “were something we had to be careful about,” he said.

Price rollercoaster

When egg prices rise, so do the number of media interview requests for Thompson.

“The questions that are asked right now are, ‘Why are prices are high?’ And ‘when are they coming back down?’” Thompson said. She noted that in 2022, HPAI led to some 43 million laying hens being taken out of egg production” in the U.S.

That was possibly the largest loss of layers in one quarter, at least until 2024-25.

“In the fourth quarter of 2024, there was a loss of 20 million birds,” Thompson said. “And in the first two months of this year, some 30 million birds. That’s an astronomical number of birds being affected by HPAI.”

Much of the nation’s commercial egg production is concentrated in a fairly small area, including Minnesota and Iowa, Mitchell said.

There have been proposals within the industry to bring broiler eggs to the market, but both Thompson and Mitchell say that’s not an easy fix because the broiler and egg production systems don’t interact.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had this conversation,” Thompson said. “There are limitations on what can be done when dealing with a different system. How do we collect these eggs? How are we going to store and clean them? This will mean additional transportation costs.

“And egg prices are really high already,” she said. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics retail egg prices reached $4.95 per dozen in January 2025, an increase of 96 percent compared to January 2024.

The research comes with a few important caveats. First, the estimate assumes that consumer preferences and purchasing behavior remained stable, meaning that consumers responded to price increases in the same way as they have in the past.

Second, the analysis focuses on the direct impact of HPAI on egg prices and consumer surplus, meaning it does not account for any indirect effects, such as potential changes in producer behavior or government policy responses.

“Despite these considerations, this estimate provides a clear and useful benchmark for understanding how HPAI affected egg prices and consumer spending in 2024,” the authors said.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Growth rates of broilers contribute to behavior differences, shed light on welfare impacts

By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As poultry companies weigh cost and efficiency with higher animal welfare standards, research comparing conventional and slow-growing broiler breeds showed that the slow-growing chickens displayed behaviors more closely associated with positive welfare.

Broilers — chickens specifically bred for meat production — are typically raised for six to eight weeks, while slow-growing broilers need up to 12 weeks to reach maturity.

AN EYE FOR WELFARE — Rosie Whittle, a poultry science postdoctoral fellow with the Center for Animal Food Wellbeing and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Life, and Food Sciences, worked on a study examining conventional and slow-growing broilers by tracking their behaviors to see how they exhibit positive welfare. (Image courtesy of Rosie Whittle)

Though gaining popularity in some European markets, slow-growing broilers have not seen the same market expansion in the United States, as they take longer to reach market weight than conventional broilers.

“The economic impact to the broiler industry raises the question: 'Why would you want to use a broiler that is going to eat more food, grow slower, and cost more to produce?'” said Rosie Whittle, poultry science postdoctoral fellow with the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

Whittle, alongside Shawna Weimer, assistant professor of poultry science and director of the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing, set out to explore this question facing industry leaders who are weighing the choice of conventional versus slow-growing broilers.

Weimer conducts research for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The Center for Food Animal Wellbeing is a unit of the Division of Agriculture.

Their work explored the impacts of genetic strain, stocking density, and, most importantly, the comparison of physiological versus chronological age between the two genetic strains on broiler behavior. Genetic strain, or the specific breed of chicken, defines whether broilers are conventional or slow growing. Stocking density represents the number of birds in a specific area.

Researchers reviewed video recordings of the birds at specified intervals to track behaviors, such as walking, standing, and preening, which are signs of positive animal welfare. Preening is when a bird uses its beak to clean its feathers.

Their study, “Effects of genetic strain, stocking density, and age on broiler behavior,” was published in Poultry Science, an official journal of the Poultry Science Association.

Results of the study revealed that a larger percentage of slow-growing broilers were observed standing, walking, and preening, while more conventional broilers sat in a lateral posture. The effects of stocking density were minimal, so the number of birds in an area did not have a significant impact on broiler behavior.

Detailing bird behavior

LOOKING FORWARD — Shawna Weimer, assistant professor of poultry science and director of the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing, served as corresponding author of the study and said she would like to see further research on a larger scale to examine what other factors could affect animal welfare. (University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture photo)

Weimer pointed out that “animal welfare is quite dynamic” and emphasized that further investigations of broiler behavior should be undertaken. Whittle also stressed that their research was focused on understanding the effects of growth rate on broiler behavior, not necessarily what is best for companies or consumers.

Whittle also noted that the study focused on two types of broilers, but “all genetics companies have a different recipe for chickens.” Therefore, in tracking behavior, it is important to be aware of the possibility that “one genetic strain of broiler behaves completely different to the other,” she said.

Whittle said further research is required because “it’s always important to expand so we’re not just generalizing based on two specific genotypes.”

Co-authors of the work included Darrin Karcher and Marisa Erasmus, both associate professors of animal sciences at Purdue University. Weimer serves as corresponding author, meaning she is responsible for communication and questions about the publication.

The project was supported by Purdue University’s Department of Animal Sciences and the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing. The animal care staff at Purdue University’s Poultry Unit, Olivia Walton, Heidi Rinehart, and Nathan Griffith also contributed to the work.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

Master Gardeners accepting applications for Janet B. Carson scholarship

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — For Arkansas Master Gardeners, it’s important to support the next generation of leaders in plant science. As part of this effort, the program funds the Janet B. Carson High School Senior Scholarship, which is now accepting applications from Arkansas students.

PLANTING THE FUTURE — Arkansas Master Gardeners are accepting applications for the Janet B. Carson High School Senior Scholarship, which is available for Arkansas students who plan to attend a state college or university and pursue a plant science-related degree. (Division of Agriculture graphic.)

The $2,000 scholarship is available to Arkansas high school seniors who plan to attend an Arkansas college or university. The student must be planning to pursue a degree in a plant science-related field, including horticulture, botany, agronomy, forestry and landscape architecture and design.

Randy Forst, extension consumer horticulture educator and Master Gardener program coordinator for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the scholarship is a fitting tribute to its namesake.

“Janet Carson spent 38 years sharing her knowledge and passion for gardening with thousands of people around the state as a horticulturist for the Cooperative Extension Service,” Forst said. “The Janet B. Carson Scholarship was set up in 2014 in honor of her significant contributions to the field of horticulture in Arkansas.

“As Master Gardeners, we hope that this opportunity will encourage more young people to pursue a career involving plants,” Forst said. “Investing in the future of the plant industry is fundamental to our mission.”

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is March 14. The application is available at uada.formstack.com/forms/jbc_high_school_scholarship. Scholarship applicants must submit a statement about their interest in plant science and their career goals, two letters of recommendation, and their high school transcript and ACT scores. All applications must be submitted online.

For any questions about the Janet B. Carson Scholarship, contact c76scholarships@gmail.com

To learn about Master Gardeners, visit uaex.uada.edu/master-gardeners. To learn about other extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

‘Beyond the Fence’ Lunch and Learn to highlight herd rebuilding, cattle markets

By Sarah Cato
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK – With the national beef cow herd at its lowest level since the 1960s, an upcoming lunch and learn session will focus on herd rebuilding strategies and current cattle markets.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and Arvest Bank are working in partnership to host a series of lunch and learn sessions covering timely topics and production strategies for cattle producers in Arkansas. The first installment of the “Beyond the Fence” sessions will be held March 18 at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center in Fayetteville, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Online streaming via Zoom will begin at noon. 

REBUILDING THE HERD – The national beef cow herd is at its lowest level since the 1960s. James Mitchell will discuss herd rebuilding strategies at the March 18 "Beyond the Fence" lunch and learn sessions hosted by the Division of Agriculture and Arvest Bank. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

“We’re thrilled to partner with Arvest in delivering the Beyond the Fence Lunch and Learn sessions,” said Maggie Justice, extension beef cattle specialist for the Division of Agriculture.  “We are hoping to provide producers across the state with valuable insights and support as we work together to address the challenges they continue to face.”

The March 18 lunch and learn will feature James Mitchell, assistant professor and extension economist for the Division of Agriculture, who will discuss the benefits and costs of alternative cow herd rebuilding strategies and the current lending conditions.

The session is free to attend and lunch will be provided to those attending in person. Those interested can register online or email mjustice@uada.edu. Times and locations of future sessions will be released in the coming weeks.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate or need materials in another format, please contact mjustice@uada.edu as soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.

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. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

Cold plasma-treated seeds show potential to protect plants, reduce pesticide use

By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The same substance that paints the sky with the Northern Lights also appears to enhance plant growth and insect defense, according to a new study.

FOURTH STATE OF MATTER — Cold plasma is applied to rice seeds to investigate its effects on plant growth and defense against the fall armyworm. (Image courtesy of Rupesh Kariyat)

Food science and entomology researchers from the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station teamed up to harness plasma and measure its effects on rice seed. The project began after Mahfuzur Rahman, assistant professor of food science, acquired a machine that produces cold plasma.

Known as the fourth state of matter, plasma is an electrically charged gas that has fluid-like behavior. Rahman points to the Northern Lights as the most familiar example of cold plasma, which means it is considered low temperature compared to the much higher temperatures of plasma in stars. Other examples of cold plasma like that generated in Rahman’s lab include fluorescent lights and neon signs.

Rupesh Kariyat, associate professor of crop entomology, became interested in investigating cold plasma’s effects from an insect perspective — an area he said had not been studied adequately.

“I thought it would be a good idea that we expose our seeds to cold plasma and then grow those seeds out into plants and ask the question of whether the plants are doing better,” Kariyat said.

“If this works, then we can come up with a method to expand at a scale where we can add cold plasma to complement existing seed treatments to boost their growth and defense against insect herbivores,” Kariyat said, noting the potential to reduce insecticide use.

One of Kariyat’s graduate students, Deepak Dilip, led the project in collaboration with Nikitha Modupalli, a postdoctoral fellow in food science and member of Rahman’s lab. Their study, "Atmospheric cold plasma alters plant traits and negatively affects the growth and development of fall armyworm in rice," was published in Nature's Scientific Reports in January.

Dilip served as the lead author, with Modupalli, Rahman and Kariyat serving as co-authors. Both Rahman and Kariyat are researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Tracking seed germination and plant growth

The study specifically investigated rice plant defense against fall armyworm. Seeds were treated with cold plasma and then irrigated with cold plasma-activated water, which is water that has been treated with cold plasma and has some antimicrobial properties. The plasma interacts with water molecules to generate highly reactive molecules containing oxygen and nitrogen, which effectively kill bacteria.

The results revealed that rice seeds treated with cold plasma could negatively impact fall armyworms’ growth and development.

MEASURING GROWTH AND DEFENSE — Deepak Dilip, a graduate research assistant pursuing a master's degree in entomology, led the experiments with strong support from Nikitha Modupalli, food science postdoctoral fellow. (Image courtesy of Rupesh Kariyat)

Researchers also observed signs of improved plant growth such as more leaf growth. They also saw a faster germination rate in cold plasma-treated plants, though this was not statistically significant. It has been found that cold plasma can increase germination by eroding a seed’s surface.

Additionally, though germination rates were quicker, control plants eventually caught up with treated ones in terms of growth, making final germination counts similar between untreated and cold plasma-treated seeds. Researchers point out that this suggests cold plasma applications, though they can benefit initial plant growth, would not be as beneficial in later stages of the plant’s growth cycle.

As for the study’s impacts on the future, Kariyat and Rahman hope to apply cold plasma to the field of organic food production.

Rahman explained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is evaluating cold plasma as an organic technology, potentially paving the way to alternatives for pesticides.

“In the future, if we can optimize this technology for organic production, it will create a very new avenue for organic food growth,” Rahman said.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

Greer remembered for mentorship, love of science, and good insect memes

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

HOPE, Ark. — Amanda Greer is being remembered for her love of family, science and a good insect meme. By Mary Hightower. 780 words. With portrait of Greer, file photo

Greer, born in Warren, passed away Feb. 19 following a battle with cancer.

Agriculture was her life. She farmed and worked as a cotton scout and crop consultant in the 1990s. In 2006, she joined the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture as a Chicot County extension agent, moving later to Lafayette County, first as an agent, then as staff chair. Between her time in Chicot and Lafayette counties, Greer also worked as a program technician at the former Southeast Research and Extension Center in Monticello.

Amanda Greer is being remembered as a teacher at heart who loved science and a good insect meme. (U of Arkansas file photo)

In 2018, she started as lab manager for the Arkansas Nematode Diagnostic Lab, based at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope.

Kim Rowe, Hempstead County extension agent, knew Greer for two decades and said she looked to Greer for her expertise in weed identification, plant diseases, and insect and nematode problems.

“She was always patient with me busting up in her lab,” Rowe said. “She would confidently solve any mystery, no matter how much time it took.

“While I will certainly miss her mentorship and assistance professionally, mostly I will miss my friend who loved quality insect memes, photos of lichens, and trying exotic foods,” Rowe said.

Daniel Rivera, director of the Southwest Research and Extension Center, said Greer was a private person, but could be gregarious once she got to know someone.

“She was warm, witty, funny, generous with her time, and thoroughly enjoyed working in the nematode lab,” Rivera said. “She always took time to educate me about nematodes, and she was that way with anyone who came to visit the lab. From kids to state senators, all were taught equally! Her eyes would light up when they would find out something new or neat. She just loved the science.

“She felt a responsibility to ag producers, the Division of Agriculture, and the lab, and took great pride in the work the lab put out,” Rivera added. “Amanda was the living embodiment of our core values.” 

Rivera said Greer would also light up when she spoke of her daughter, and “Amanda loved talking about Dakota's accomplishments.”

Greer was also a diehard Razorback fan who loved to go to the games with her husband, William, and daughter Dakota.

“From my friend Amanda, we can take one final lesson: to be strong, steadfast in your tasks, and ensure that you spend time and enjoy the ones you love as much as you can,” Rivera said.

Terry Kirkpatrick, who oversaw the nematode lab before retiring and recommended Greer for the job, having been her adviser through her master’s studies and had seen her at work as an extension agent.

Her success as an extension educator was because “she was a teacher at heart,” Kirkpatrick said. “It took her about 15 minutes to win over the farmers in Lafayette County, because she was out there with them.

“She might show up at suppertime on a Friday night at a farmer’s house and say, ‘I just walked through your rice field and you’ve got blast and you probably need to think about spraying that first of next week’,” Kirkpatrick said. “She was just Johnny-on-the-spot and she’d take them out there to look for blast or root knot nematodes, or whatever the disease of the week was.”

“Quietly and not in the headlines, she had a significant impact through all the things she did,” Kirkpatrick said.

Ken Korth, head of the entomology and plant pathology department for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and the Division of Agriculture, said “we were so fortunate that Amanda was able to take on the leadership position at the nematode diagnostic lab. 

“Her expertise and approach made her an outstanding diagnostician. I think her strong performance truly benefited from a broad background in agriculture, having served as a county agent and working on the family farm,” Korth said. “Amanda earned her master’s degree in our department working under the direction of Dr. Terry Kirkpatrick. It was especially enjoyable to have one of our alumni back working as a colleague.” 

Jerri Dew, Lafayette County extension staff chair, said that Greer was highly respected in the row crop community.

“Many Lafayette County farmers still had close ties to her and consulted with her regularly,” Dew said. “When I came to work in Lafayette County, Amanda helped me more than any other person in extension. She is going to be sorely missed by a lot of people.”

Greer is survived by her husband of 22 years, William "Shotgun” Greer, and daughter, Dakota Greer.

A visitation and funeral service were held in Lake Village.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Cooperative Extension Service University Center launches new Labor Market Observatory tool

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service has released a new data tool providing access to workforce indicators across the state.

The Labor Market Observatory provides data from each of the state’s eight economic development districts. The new tool is a product of extension’s Community, Professional and Economic Development department. In the fall of 2023, the department received funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s University Center Program to create the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development. The center worked in partnership with Heartland Forward to develop the LMO.

“The Labor Market Observatory is a visual representation of workforce and demographic metrics for the state of Arkansas,” said Brandon L. Mathews, extension program associate for economic development for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — A new data tool, created in partnership by the Cooperative Extension Service and Heartland Forward, provides access to workforce indicators from each of Arkansas' eight economic development districts, which are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. (Division of Agriculture graphic.) 

Mathews said the tool is designed to help development professionals, community organizations and individuals access workforce indicators from state and federal sources. These indicators include demographic information — such as the share of Hispanic, Marshallese, and rural and urban populations — as well as housing, income and employment statistics at the county, development district and state level.

Arkansas is divided into eight economic development districts that are funded in part by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. These districts offer a range of services for their communities, including grant writing, planning, and community and economic development.

“Economic development districts were the primary audience in developing the LMO tool,” Mathews said. “However, economic developers, city and county officials, chambers of commerce and the general public will be able to access the LMO. The goal of this tool is to provide workforce information to help communities make informed decisions based on key data, while also making the information easier to understand.”

Mathews said that when a development professional from one of the districts wants to calculate housing costs and income for a region and compare it to the whole state, for example, the LMO tool will retrieve the relevant data and calculate totals, rather than the individual having to compile data from several sources.

“All of that work is done for them through the LMO, automatically saving them time and resources,” he said.

Mathews said the LMO is intended to help the state’s economic and workforce practitioners make smart choices that “support workforce and human capital projects that are good for Arkansans.”

Help for Arkansans

Each economic development district is required to develop a data-driven plan that is specific to the needs and opportunities of their community. Mathews said the LMO can help these regions measure success in reaching their strategic goals.

“As LMO data and features are added over time,” Mathews said, “the hope is that the Cooperative Extension Service will become a trusted and reliable source for workforce data.”

Hunter Goodman, assistant professor and extension director of the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development, said the LMO is key to the center’s mission.

“The data dashboards are an important component of our mission to equip Arkansans with sustainable, accessible, research-based practices and expertise to create vibrant, self-reliant communities where businesses, organizations and families thrive,” Goodman said.

The LMO was developed in partnership with Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based organization dedicated to advancing economic success in the middle of the country, with three core impact areas: regional competitiveness, talent pipeline and health and wellness. Heartland Forward led the creation of the visualization dashboard.

“We’re excited to roll out the dashboards and honored to serve as a trusted resource for this project,” said Rodrigo Ramirez-Perez, a research analyst at Heartland Forward. “By making data more accessible and approachable for development professionals, community organizations and individuals alike, we believe they can strengthen their communities through strategies informed by data-driven insights.”

Mathews said more workforce data will be added to the LMO in the coming months, with plans to provide data at the city or zip code level where available. The University Center plans to host a series of trainings on how to use the LMO, which will soon be added to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture calendar. Event postings will also be shared on the Division of Agriculture’s Community and Economic Development Facebook page.  

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Machine learning maps animal feeding operations to improve sustainability

By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Understanding where farm animals are raised is crucial for managing their environmental impacts and developing technological solutions, but gaps in data often make it challenging to get the full picture.

Becca Muenich, biological and agricultural engineering researcher, set out to fill the gap with a new technique for mapping animal feeding operations.

MAPPING IT OUT — Becca Muenich, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering and a researcher with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, used machine learning tools to model the locations of animal feeding operations in the U.S. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Paden Johnson)

Without proper control strategies, the waste generated by these operations can pose significant ecological harm, Muenich said, such as surface water contamination with excess phosphorus and nitrogen. Animal feeding operations are defined as facilities that feed animals for at least 45 days per year in a confined area that does not grow grass or forage. For Muenich, a water quality engineer who focuses on how water moves through landscapes and how it can pollute areas by picking up and moving toxic materials, this issue piqued her interest.

“We can’t really address something if we don’t know where the problem is,” said Muenich, an associate professor with the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas and researcher for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“We don’t have a good nationwide — even at many state levels — understanding of where livestock are in the landscape, which really hinders our ability to do some of the studies that I was interested in,” she said.

Muenich said there has been a rise in these feeding operations in response to increasing population size and global demand for livestock products.

Considering key predictors of feeding operation presence such as surface temperature, phosphorus levels and surrounding vegetation, Muenich’s team built a machine learning model that can predict the location of feeding operation locations without using aerial images. Machine learning models are a type of computer program that can use algorithms to make predictions based on data patterns.

The model was developed using data encompassing 18 U.S. states. The data was broken up into individual parcels based on ownership. Testing against a dataset of known animal feeding operations, the model predicted their location with 87 percent accuracy.

The study, “Machine learning-based identification of animal feeding operations in the United States on a parcel-scale,” was published in Science of the Total Environment in January.

Filling in the gaps

Previous attempts at identifying animal feeding operations have often relied on aerial images, Muenich said, but livestock facilities often look different between states and by animal, so she and her team aimed to employ further strategies.

MACHINE LEARNING — Muenich and her collaborators published their study in the Total Environment journal, outlining the development and results of their machine learning-based modeling. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Paden Johnson)

She explained the lack of understanding surrounding livestock locations often comes from differences in how states interpret the Clean Water Act, which requires farms classified as “concentrated animal feeding operations” to get permits through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. These facilities are a type of animal feeding operation with more than 1,000 animal units.

Despite the national regulation, states administer this permitting differently, leading to differences in available data.

For example, Muenich built a watershed model in an area with of Michigan and Ohio that included multiple feeding operations. Data was readily available through the pollutant elimination system for Michigan due to the state’s permitting requirements. The same data, however, wasn’t available for the same operations in Ohio, which set Muenich down this path of investigation.

Advancing towards a better accounting of livestock can help with developing strategies that can improve environmental outcomes of livestock management while creating economic opportunities for farmers through the scaling up of technologies aimed at combating animal waste, Muenich said. Scaling these technologies in economically feasible ways requires knowledge of where livestock are most prevalent and spatially connected, she explained.

Co-authors of the study included Arghajeet Saha, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arkansas and currently an assistant scientist with the Kansas Geological Survey; Barira Rashid, Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas; Ting Liu, a research associate with the University of Arkansas biological and agricultural engineering department; and Lorrayne Miralha, an assistant professor with The Ohio State University’s department of food, agricultural and biological engineering.

The research was supported by the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability Center under National Science Foundation award number CBET-2019435. The Data with Purpose program from Regrid, a source for nationwide land parcel data, provided data used in the research.

​To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

Back to the basics soil fertility training March 11 in Marianna

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Whether you’re new to soil science or been at it for years, there’s never a bad time to review the basics, and that’s what the March 11 soil fertility training workshop at Marianna is all about.

The workshop will be facilitated by Trent Roberts, professor of soil fertility, soil testing, and Bronc Finch, assistant professor and extension soil fertility specialist, and Chandler Arel, extension crop, soils and environmental sciences, all of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The March 11 soil workshop will include a tour of the state's soil test lab (U of A System Division of Agriculture file photo).

The event will be held at the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station, 3121 Highway 1 South, Marianna, and opens with on-site check-in at 8 a.m.

Lunch will be provided to participants who register by March 4. Participants may register online.

“This is the first soil fertility workshop that we have hosted in several years,” Roberts said. “We are going to get back to basics and cover some introductory topics so that we can build on them going forward.”

Finch called the workshop “an opportunity to refresh or gain new knowledge about some of the basics principles of soil fertility.” 

“We hope that this workshop will lay the groundwork for future educational activities,” Roberts said.

The event will include sessions on:

• Plant essential nutrients.

• Soil basics.

• Soil and water conservation.

• Soil testing philosophy/interpretation.

Additionally, the workshop will include a tour of the Division of Agriculture’s Soil Testing and Research Lab, located at the cotton station. Since it opened in 1976, the lab has tested an estimated 5.7 million soil samples. In 2023 alone, the lab tested a record 220,032 soil samples.

The workshop is being presented by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, the Arkansas Plant Food Association and the Arkansas Soil Testing Board.

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

Registration opens Feb. 24 for spring edition of Walk Across Arkansas

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — For Arkansans looking to achieve their fitness goals or develop new healthy habits this spring, Walk Across Arkansas offers an eight-week, group-based exercise program that helps get people moving.

HEALTHY MOVEMENT — Walk Across Arkansas, supported by the Cooperative Extension Service, is a free, eight-week, group-based exercise program where participants work as teams to log daily minutes of physical activity. (Division of Agriculture graphic.) 

The free program is offered each spring and fall by the Cooperative Extension Service, the outreach arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Participants can sign up in teams of up to 30 people, and they log their total number of minutes spent being physically active each day.

“We encourage participants to get creative with the types of exercise they engaged in, not just walking,” said Heather Wingo, extension health program associate for the Division of Agriculture. “If you’ve been curious about yoga, strength training, or taking a Zumba class, this is a great time to try that out. Any moderate to vigorous physical activity counts, as long as you get your heart rate up.”

Individuals can participate in the program alone, but Wingo encourages Arkansans to participate alongside their peers.

“This program is free and encourages friendly competition between groups of friends, family members, co-workers or church members,” she said. “Anyone who wants to work together towards their physical activity goals would benefit from Walk Across Arkansas.”

Registration for the spring 2025 session opens Feb. 24. Participants can register and log exercise minutes at walk.uada.edu/walk/. The competition starts March 10 and ends May 4.

Health benefits

During the fall 2024 Walk Across Arkansas session, 160 teams of 1,757 individuals from 39 counties reported more than 1.9 million minutes of physical activity.

Wingo said past participants have reported that through Walk Across Arkansas, they had more energy, slept better, strengthened their relationships and lost weight or inches. They also reported lower stress levels and improved their blood pressure and blood panels.

Anyone can participate in Walk Across Arkansas. Division of Agriculture employees must use a personal email address, not their work email address, to register. Visit walk.uada.edu/walk/ to learn more and register or contact your local county extension agent.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Extension expert offers spring pruning tips

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Timing is key when it comes to pruning flowering and fruiting plants. Randy Forst, extension educator for consumer horticulture for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said late February is an optimal time to prune plants that bloom in the summer.

PRUNING HELP — Pruning helps encourage new growth, and for many plants that bloom in the summer, late February is the optimal time to prune. Randy Forst, extension educator for consumer horticulture for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said using the correct — and sharp — pruning tool for the job is essential. (Division of Agriculture graphic.) 

“In general, plants that bloom in the spring should be pruned immediately following blooming, and plants that bloom in the summer should be pruned before growth begins in late February,” Forst said. “Pruning encourages new wood growth and more flower buds, and roses and cane-producing plants especially benefit from pruning.”

Some plants, including big leaf hydrangeas, oak leaf hydrangeas and gardenias don’t follow this rule.

“These plants all bloom in the summer, but they set their flower buds at the end of the summer into early fall,” Forst said. “If you prune them before growth begins, you will not have flowers this summer. The time to prune them is when the flowers begin to fade.”

Forst, who also coordinates the extension Master Gardener program, said gardeners should research specific information about the plant they want to prune, as some plants do not need pruning at all.

“Some of the most common mistakes people make is pruning too intensely, especially when it comes to crape myrtles,” Forst said. “Instead of dehorning — or entirely removing the top branches of a crape myrtle — gardeners should instead selectively remove branches so that the tree maintains its height.”

Forst said the following plants need to be pruned at the end of February and in early March:

• Ornamental grasses

• Roses

• Fruit trees

• Blueberries

• Blackberries, by removing old dead canes

• Buddleia, also known as butterfly bush

• Summer blooming spiraeas

In addition to timely pruning, Forst said pruning with the correct tool is important to a plant’s success.

“The size of material to be pruned reflects the best tool for the job,” he said. “Most of the time, it would be a bypass blade hand pruning shear. On larger branches, it might take lopping shears. On tree branches, it might require a bow saw. On any pruning device, it is very important that the blades are sharp, and you are getting a clean cut.”

Visit Arkansas Yard and Garden Pruning Resources, Spring Pruning Tips and Crape Myrtle Pruning for more information, or contact Randy Forst at rforst@uada.edu.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X 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 X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Learning in the Wild: 4-H members gain hands-on experience with Arkansas waterfowl

By Traci Rushing
U of A System Division of Agriculture – UAM College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources

AUGUSTA, Ark. — Learning is better in the wild, and for Arkansas 4-H members the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge provided the perfect outdoor classroom.

Under the guidance of the state’s leading waterfowl and extension experts, participants in the Wonders of Waterfowl workshop engaged in an immersive learning experience focused on the ecology and management of Arkansas’ diverse duck populations.

Youth at the Wonder of Wildfowl event launch banded ducks back into the wild. (UA-Monticello image)

A favorite among the attendees was wading through a moist-soil unit to collect and examine aquatic invertebrates – a key food source for waterfowl.

With the help of University of Arkansas at Monticello waterfowl students and professors, participants analyzed their findings under microscopes, gaining firsthand insight into waterfowl feeding habits.

Other workshop highlights included discussions led by UAM waterfowl graduate students that covered waterfowl identification, habitat characteristics, and migratory hazards and patterns. These stops served as a perfect opportunity for Lily Barber, Grant County 4-H member, who attended because she wanted to learn how to identify waterfowl. At the close of the event, Barber shared her excitement in learning how to identify common ducks in Arkansas by their wings.

“We learned about ducks, what they eat, what their wing spans looks like and all the different types of ducks,” said Jayden Rushing, Calhoun County 4-H member.

Immersed in Research

As part of the Mississippi Flyway, Arkansas is a vital wintering ground for waterfowl, making it a hotspot for waterfowl research. Among the leading studies is the satellite tracking research led by Douglas Osborne, PhD, a renowned waterfowl professor and researcher at UAM.  Participants had the unique opportunity to learn about the banding and tracking practices used by the lab’s researchers and view live tracking data from ducks fitted with transmitter technology.

Drew County 4-H member, Jack Wagner, was amazed to learn the impressive distances and speeds at which ducks travel during their migration to Arkansas. In the workshop, he learned ducks can reach flight speeds of more than 80 mph and sometimes cover more than 1,700 miles during their migrations.

The event concluded with researchers from the Osborne Lab and personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gathering ducks that had been trapped on the Cache River. They then demonstrated to youth how to tell the birds’ ages and band the birds. Participants were then each able to hold a duck and release it back on the refuge.

A Lasting Impact

The Wonders of Waterfowl program was started three years ago by Tiffany Osborne, UAM wildlife instructor, wildlife extension specialist for University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and workshop coordinator. Throughout the event, Osborne shared her passion for nature and extensive knowledge with the 4-H members.

“I started this program to connect youth across the state with nature and to teach them to respect the land,” said Tiffany Osborne. “It’s important that we create opportunities for the next generation to carry on the work of conservation.”

Through workshops like this, Arkansas 4-H continues to foster environmental education and stewardship, ensuring young people develop a deeper appreciation for wildlife, conservation, and agriculture practices. For more information on joining 4-H or upcoming events, contact your county’s Cooperative Extension Service Office.  

Chicken ‘woody breast’ detection improved with advanced machine learning model

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s called “woody breast” and for consumers it can mean a chewier chicken sandwich, but for the industry it can mean up to $200 million annual yield loss.

IMPROVED METHOD — Chaitanya Pallerla, a food science graduate student, has worked to improve the accuracy of detecting the "woody breast" defect on chicken by developing a new machine learning model and hyperspectral imaging. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

Work done by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station is not only making woody breast easier to detect in chicken meat but is accurate up to 95 percent of the time.

The development could help improve quality assurance and customer confidence in one of the state’s most economically important agricultural products. What allows researchers to see inside the meat is a combination of a hyperspectral camera, which examines the meat through various energy wavelengths, and machine learning to interpret what the camera sees.

“We’ve been able to improve accuracy of detection of woody breast by utilizing machine learning to analyze complex data from images with a hyperspectral camera,” said Dongyi Wang, an assistant professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department for the experiment station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“The next step will be trying to integrate the system online and make this beneficial for stakeholders,” Wang said, noting this specific application of image analysis had not been done before.

Loss in premium meat

“Woody breast” meat is harder and chewier than normal chicken breast, but it is still safe to eat, according to Casey Owens, professor of poultry processing and products for the experiment station and a co-author of the study. When detected by processers, either by humans or computer-assisted imaging technology, she said the meat is diverted from whole-breast packaging for further processing into products including chicken nuggets and patties.

The loss in premium as a whole-muscle product accounts for yield loss as high as $200 million in Arkansas and over $1 billion in direct and indirect costs annually across the United States poultry industry, Owens added. Up to 20 percent of chicken breast meat can have the defect, which is more common in larger birds of 8 to 9 pounds versus 6- to 7-pound birds.

Hyperspectral imaging

Hyperspectral imaging is a rapid, non-invasive way to capture detailed data about objects and their composition. This data can be used to classify food products according to food quality, consumer preferences and other product requirements.

But hyperspectral images come with tons of data. That’s where machine learning comes in.

Chaitanya Pallerla, a food science graduate student who has been working on the project for the past two years with Wang as his adviser, said the new machine learning model is called NAS-WD. When correlated with known data about the “woodiness” of chicken breasts, the model allows for deeper and wider analysis of hyperspectral images to identify the defect.

“In hyperspectral imaging, there are common machine learning models being used, but we were able to develop a new model that could be well-suited for correlating more than two variables,” Pallerla said. “We kind of took two different models, made a few changes, and put them together to detect patterns better and correlate the hyperspectral data with hardness of the chicken meat.”

The results of their research were published in the journal Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture under the title “Neural network architecture search enabled wide-deep learning (NAS-WD) for spatially heterogenous property awared chicken woody breast classification and hardness regression.”

The results showed that NAS-WD can classify three woody breast defect levels with an overall accuracy of 95 percent, outperforming the traditional models like the Support Vector Machine and Multi-Layer Perception, which offered 80 percent and about 73 percent accuracy, respectively.

HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING — Dongyi Wang is an assistant professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department. (U of A System Division of Agriculture)

Wang said the study offers an example of how to use new algorithms to mine data and dig into key information. The form of hyperspectral imaging used in the research is called “push broom,” which takes an image of several objects once every 40 seconds, compared to a more common industry method of a “snapshot,” which takes an image of individual objects as fast as every 30 milliseconds. The “snapshots” have a lower resolution than the “push broom” method, but software upgrades may one day provide higher resolution for “snapshot” images, Pallerla said.

Wang said his team is working on deploying this technology in the real-time system.

The study was supported in part by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, project award nos. 2023-70442-39232 and 2024-67022-42882, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.