News

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NALC webinar will discuss legal issues involved in Rail-to-Trail conversions

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By Tru Joi Curtis
National Agricultural Law Center
U of A System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Since the establishment of the National Trails System Act in 1968, current usage of railroad rights-of-way has been transformed by the federal law enabling rail-to-trail conversion including railbanking and interim trail use.

Lewis Rice Members Lindsay Brinton and Meghan Largent will discuss federal Rail-to-Trail conversions during the National Ag Law Center webinar on Jan. 17. 

Railbanking is an agreement between a trail sponsor and railroad company to use a rail corridor that is not in service as a trail until the corridor might be used again for rail service.

“The provision of the Trails Act that authorizes Rails-to-Trails followed a long history of concern regarding the loss of the important national transportation resource of rail corridors,” Lewis Rice Member Meghan S. Largent said. “The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provides landowners whose property becomes subject to a rail-trail conversion to be compensated for hosting these trails through their family’s farms, homes, or businesses.”

Nationally, there are more than 2,400 rail-trails with 25,710 miles of recreational-use track, according to the Rails to Trails Conservancy. Arkansas has 22 rail-trails offering 100 miles of hiking. The longest single rail trail in the country is Katy Trail State Park in Missouri which covers 240 miles along a former corridor for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, known as the MKT or “Katy.”

How do rail-to-trail conversions work?

During an upcoming National Agricultural Law Center webinar, Largent and fellow Lewis Rice Member Lindsay S. C. Brinton will discuss the process for federal rail-to-trail conversions under the Trails Act, the related process in the federal Surface Transportation Board, related Fifth Amendment litigation in the United States Court of Federal Claims and landowners’ rights for compensation.

The webinar, “An Overview of Landowners’ Rights in Federal Rail-to-Trail Conversions,” will be held Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m. Central/noon Eastern.

“The Trails Act presents landowners and other parties with numerous legal issues, all of which can be difficult to navigate,” Largent said. “Lindsay and I are looking forward to discussing this topic, sharing information and answering questions regarding the Trails Act.”

The webinar is free of charge and registration is online.

“We are thrilled to have Lindsay and Meghan discuss federal rail-to-trail provisions during our webinar,” NALC Director Harrison Pittman said. “Landowners and others around the country involved in this issue will benefit greatly from the knowledge that they provide.”

For information about the National Agricultural Law Center, visit nationalaglawcenter.org or follow @Nataglaw on X. The National Agricultural Law Center is also on Facebook and LinkedIn.

For updates on agricultural law and policy developments, subscribe free of charge to The Feed, the NALC’s twice-a-month newsletter highlighting recent legal developments facing agriculture.

About the National Agricultural Law Center

The National Agricultural Law Center serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The NALC works with producers, state and federal policymakers, Congressional staffers, attorneys, land grant universities, and many others to provide objective, nonpartisan agricultural and food law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community.

The NALC is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and works in close partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural Library.

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Hope, Don Bragg remembered for their love of science, learning

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By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Though silent, Don Bragg’s office speaks volumes. The awards on the walls attest to his professional excellence as a forester and researcher, but it’s the crayon drawings that show where his heart was.

“When you go in his office, the walls are full of awards,” said Mike Blazier, dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. “When you walk up to his office door, there are crayon drawings from his children. Right over his desk there’s a big yellow construction paper posting that says ‘I love you daddy,’ which was from his son when he was 4.

“For everything he accomplished, it was his children that were most dear,” Blazier said.

Hope and Don Bragg at the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame lunch in Little Rock. (U of A System Division of Agriculture file photo by Angie Freel)

Don, his wife, Hope, and their children Kenny, 22, and Elizabeth, 19, of Monticello, Arkansas, are being remembered by their friends and colleagues with great affection and respect. The family was killed in a house explosion on Dec. 30 in Michigan, a blast that also injured their son Stephen, 16, and Hope’s father, Richard Pruden. Both remained hospitalized on Wednesday. Investigators are calling the event a “fuel-air explosion.”  

GoFundMe fundraisers have been set up for Stephen Bragg, 16, https://gofund.me/d32eff21, and Richard Pruden, https://www.gofundme.com/f/richard-pruden-medical-expenses.

Don was a project leader for the U.S. Forest Service with an office at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Hope was a STEM instructor for the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s 4-H program. The two imbued their children with a love of science, technology and history, and the family shared those interests together on hikes, archaeological digs and 4-H youth development activities.

Blazier knew Don Bragg for more than two decades. In forestry, their careers often crossed. He remembered Don as being inquisitive and insightful, an excellent scientist and a bit of a sci-fi movie nerd.

Hope Bragg also loved learning. She had begun to pursue a Ph.D., and in December had been awarded a scholarship to help accomplish that goal. Her smile and enthusiasm for archeology, astronomy and other realms of science were infectious, friends said.

“Hope Bragg was incredibly passionate about science, about technology, and she loved to get youth excited about that,” said Debbie Nistler, assistant vice president for 4-H and youth for the Cooperative Extension Service. “She lit up when she had the opportunity to get youth excited about science.”

“Don was her perfect partner,” Blazier said.

Nistler said Hope’s 4-H colleagues will be working in her memory on the projects she held dear.

“The best way for us to feel like we're doing something in her name is to make sure that SeaPerch and Tech Changemakers, her archeology program and a special program for the eclipse on April 8 carry on her legacy in science education,” Nistler said. “We are also planning that scholarship for the Bragg family since education was a focus for all of them.”

Nistler said plans are in the works for a special memorial at the C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center in Ferndale. Each year, thousands of Arkansas youth take to the center’s rolling wooded acres to learn about life skills while catching a fish or escaping the summer heat in the pool.

The center will be home to four more trees, each be planted in memory of Hope, Don, Elizabeth and Kenny Bragg, all of whom spent time at the center, Nistler said.

The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

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.

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U.S. Marshals Museum opening, pilot training center top Fort Smith metro stories in 2023

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by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The long-awaited opening of the U.S. Marshals Museum and the final decision to place a foreign pilot training center in Fort Smith were two of the top news stories in the Fort Smith metro during 2023.

Following are the top five stories, followed by a list of other notable news.

1. U.S. Marshals Museum finally opens
After more than 16 years of fundraising struggles and leadership changes, the U.S. Marshals Museum opened in downtown Fort Smith on June 29. Just under 10,000 people would visit the museum in its first month.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The Robbie Westphal family, led by Bennie Westphal and Robin Westphal Clegg, donated the riverfront land for the museum. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in September 2015. Museum officials initially hoped to have the facility open by late 2017, but struggles to raise money delayed the opening. Construction of the approximately 53,000-square-foot U.S. Marshals Museum was completed — except for exhibits — in early 2020.

U.S. Marshals Museum opening, pilot training center top Fort Smith metro stories in 2023

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Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.PH., to Serve in Leadership Role for National Organization

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By Kev' Moye

Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.PH., associate professor for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), is serving as president of the board of directors for the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD).

Simon — who has teaching and clinical appointments in the UAMS colleges of Public Health and Medicine — is serving a one-year term that began in September for the 7,000-member organization, which advocates and educates with a goal to promote leadership and capacity to address chronic disease prevention and control efforts across the nation. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, lung disease and Alzheimer’s account for more than 70% of all deaths, and 80% of health care dollars spent in the United States.

“The NACDD is an advocacy organization for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and each of the states,” Simon said. “The organization strives to help people enjoy a better quality of life without the burden of a chronic disease.

Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.PH., to Serve in Leadership Role for National Organization

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Arkansas AG rejects second proposed amendment to make abortion a constitutional right

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KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

A proposed constitutional amendment proposing a limited right to abortion in Arkansas needs further revisions before it can appear on the 2024 statewide ballot, Attorney General Tim Griffin wrote in a Thursday opinion.

Griffin rejected a previous version of the proposed amendment in November. The initial proposal said state government entities would not be allowed to “prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict” Arkansans’ access to abortion “within 18 weeks of conception.”

Both rejected proposals would have permitted abortion services in cases of rape, incest, a “fatal fetal anomaly” or to protect a pregnant person’s life or health.

Arkansas AG rejects second proposed amendment to make abortion a constitutional right

John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin.

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Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

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Many of the laws we passed in 2023 take effect on January 1, 2024. These new laws impact everything from taxes to criminal justice. 

Act 10 of the 2023 Extraordinary Session reduces the top personal income tax rate from 4.7% to 4.4% for tax years beginning January 1, 2024. The act also reduces the corporate income tax rate from 5.1% to 4.8%.  

Act 485 of the 2023 Regular Session phases out the income tax apportionment throwback rule over 7 years. The sections of the act phasing out the throwback rule are effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2024. 

Other acts passed during the 2023 Regular Session that become effective on January 1 include the following:u 

Act 811 requires each public high school campus to have a clearly visible and labeled opioid overdose rescue kit and requires that the location of each opioid overdose rescue kit be registered with the school nurse and school resource officer of each public high school. This act also requires that each state-supported higher education campus also have an opioid overdose rescue kit in certain locations. 

Act 300 changes the date for special elections on measures and questions to the preferential primary election or general election date and defines what constitutes an emergency special election.  

Act 316 requires screening for depression for birth mothers within the first 6 weeks after birth and mandates that an insurance policy shall cover the cost of the screening.

Act 196 reduces the maximum potential unemployment compensation benefits. It also establishes the contribution rates of employers.

Act 106 disqualifies an individual from unemployment benefits if he or she fails to accept suitable work within 5 business days or fails to appear for a previously scheduled job interview on at least 2 occasions without notification. 

Act 587 requires an individual who submits a claim for unemployment benefits to complete at least 5 work search contacts per week to be eligible for unemployment benefits for the week.  

Act 160 requires a public housing authority to request federal approval if necessary to implement a work requirement for able-bodied adults in households that receive housing assistance. 

Several provisions of the Protect Arkansas Act also take effect also January 1, 2024. These provisions include requiring persons convicted of the most serious offenses to serve a greater percentage of their sentence prior to release. 

You can find a complete summary of all the legislation passed this year at arkansashouse.org.

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Arkansas' congressional delegation give year end review of legislative year

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KUAR | By Ronak Patel

In an interview with Arkies in the Beltway, a podcast produced by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas’ congressional delegation said they were satisfied with what their party, the Republicans, were able to accomplish.

This year was the first time Republicans had control of the House since 2018. U.S Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, said governing as the majority is more of a challenge than being the minority party.

U.S Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, said controlling one chamber of Congress in itself was a success, because it limited the legislation that Democrats were able to pass. Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 are the deadlines that the Democrats and Republicans will have to pass appropriations bills by. Crawford said this will be a challenge.

Arkansas' congressional delegation give year end review of legislative year

Zach Gibson/Getty Images

In 2024, Republicans will continue to be the majority party of the U.S House of Representatives. During the 2022 mid term election, Republicans gained control of the chamber.

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Arkansas farmers expected to produce record soybean yields

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by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

It’s expected that Arkansas soybean yields could set a new record, with each acre yielding an estimated 53 bushels on average, said Jeremy Ross, soybean extension agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The increase is expected despite drought-like conditions throughout the Mississippi Delta Region in 2023. Better growing practices, including proactive irrigation, along with better plant genetics, early planting and favorable conditions for many of the state’s soybean farmers were other factors for improved yields, Ross said.

“We won’t have the final numbers until February, but there is potential for the yield average to be higher,” Ross said. “South Arkansas took it on the chin this spring with heavy rains and some very cold conditions after planting, in addition to several hailstorms in other parts of the state, but overall, it was a good year.”

Arkansas farmers expected to produce record soybean yields

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Sound complaint lawsuit against Arkansas crypto mine company continues

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KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Several Arkansans who live near a cryptocurrency mines are suing to stop the noise.

Crypto mines are large groups of computers designed to harvest cryptocurrency. They typically take up a full plot of land the length of a house. The noise from fans needed to keep the computers cool can be quite loud, emitting a constant high-pitched humming sound, audible from several blocks away.

Members of the Bono community of Greenbrier and Damascus are suing Newrays One LLC, one of many companies operating crypto mines in Arkansas. Residents seek punitive damages and are asking the company to stop mining in their community. The lawsuit alleges they are breaking sound laws and behaving negligently by not showing concern for their neighbors.

Sound complaint lawsuit against Arkansas crypto mine company continues

Mark Lennihan/AP

In this 2014 file photo, a man arrives for the Inside Bitcoins conference and trade show in New York.

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Gov. Sanders: 188th commander resigns over abortion policy

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by Michael Tilley (mtilley@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders is citing the resignation of 188th Wing Commander Col. Dillon Patterson in a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that asks for repeal of a policy that pays for abortion-related costs for members of the military.

In a statement issued Tuesday (Jan. 2) afternoon, Gov. Sanders suggested Patterson resigned as 188th commander because he did not support the Department of Defense (DOD) policy on abortion access.

The 188th is based at Ebbing Air National Guard base in Fort Smith and has more than 1,000 unit members. The 188th’s three primary missions are remotely piloted aircraft (MQ-9 Reaper), intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (space-focused). As of Tuesday, Patterson was still listed as unit commander on the 188th website.

Gov. Sanders: 188th commander resigns over abortion policy

The MQ-9 Reaper arrives at the Fort Smith Regional Airport in 2021 as part of a 188th Wing exercise.

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UAMS Regional Campuses Mark 50th Anniversary

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By Chris Carmody

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 2023 celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Regional Campuses, a network that has provided high-quality education and health care in rural and underserved communities throughout the state. 

UAMS Regional Campuses, originally known as the Arkansas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program, were founded in 1973 to encourage UAMS medical school graduates to remain in Arkansas, as well as to help address the state’s shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians.  

AHEC programs began to take root across the nation after a 1970 report from the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education outlined the urgent need to address a nationwide shortage of health professionals. With the support of then-Gov. Dale Bumpers, UAMS leaders and health professionals, the Arkansas General Assembly appropriated $1 million to establish the state’s program.  

UAMS Regional Campuses Mark 50th Anniversary

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Cooperative Extension Service to host four federal crop insurance workshops in early 2024

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By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service will host four workshops addressing federal crop insurance in January and February of 2024.

PROTECTING YOUR WORK — The Cooperative Extension Service will host four workshops addressing federal crop insurance in January and February of 2024. (DIvision of Agriculture photo.)

The workshops will be held Jan. 19 in Batesville, Jan. 22 in Pine Bluff, Jan. 30 in Forrest City and Feb. 20 in Monticello. The workshops are free to attend. Interested parties can register online. Agendas for the workshops can be found here.

Hunter Biram, agricultural economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the workshops will provide attendees with detailed information of many aspects of crop insurance programs.

"Participants can expect to receive information from agricultural economics faculty and USDA-RMA Navigators covering a wide array of federal crop insurance topics,” Biram said. “ Presentations will be given that describe how to apply for crop insurance with a local crop insurance agent and describe various products such as pasture insurance, whole-farm insurance, and yield and revenue insurance.

“There is a topic relevant for any operation regardless of whether a producer raises cattle, grows cash crops or produces fruits and vegetables,” he said. “Workbooks covering all these topics and more will be provided for registrants."

The first three workshops will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The final workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20, will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Each workshop includes lunch or dinner. The workshops are supported by funding from USDA-NIFA, the Southern Risk Management Education Center, and the Fryar Price Risk Management Center of Excellence, Biram said.

Each workshop will include presentations from Biram and other cooperative extension specialists, including livestock economist James Mitchell, RMA Navigator Project Specialist LaGrand Elliott, agricultural economist Ryan Loy and others.

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.

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UAMS’ Robert Reis, Ph.D., Receives Award from International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences

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By Chris Carmody

The International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences honored Robert J. Shmookler Reis, Ph.D., a professor and researcher in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, with an award that recognizes advancements in clinical science.

Reis received the Jawahar (Jay) Mehta Annual Award for Clinical Scientist during the organization’s North American Section conference in Tampa, Florida.

Reis is a professor in the Department of Geriatrics and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He also serves as a senior research career scientist in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

UAMS’ Robert Reis, Ph.D., Receives Award from International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences

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YEAREND: As drought tightened cattle production, 2023 markets soared

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LITTLE ROCK — Cattle market prices are as high as they’ve been in a decade. That’s good news for producers who have been able to maintain their herds in recent years, but a missed opportunity for those who weren’t.

HIGH DOLLAR — “It was an exciting year in terms of markets for cattle,” said the Division of Agriculture's James Mitchell said. “Cattle prices leading up to the fall were as high as we’ve seen them in 10 years — that had lots of people excited about the future. On the production side, it was exciting depending on who you asked.” (Image courtesy USDA.) 

Throughout most of the year, both futures and cash markets for steers, calves and more marked a vast improvement over 2022. By the last week of November, prices for medium and large No. 1 steer calves (weighing 500 to 600 pounds) were above $270 per hundredweight, more than $80 per hundredweight higher than the same time in 2022 and more than $100 higher than the average from 2017-2021.

James Mitchell, assistant professor and extension economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that the benefits of high prices largely fell to those with access to good grazing and forage.

“It was an exciting year in terms of markets for cattle,” Mitchell said. “Cattle prices leading up to the fall were as high as we’ve seen them in 10 years — that had lots of people excited about the future. On the production side, it was exciting depending on who you asked.” 

A wide swath of droughty conditions has made its way down the middle of the United States over the last several years — affecting first the Northern Plains states such as Montana and Idaho in 2021-2022, then the Southern Plains of Kansas and Texas and finally the Southeast in 2023.

“About three-quarters of Arkansas was heavily affected,” Mitchell said. “The southeastern United States has been hit incredibly hard by drought. All of our neighbors to the east — Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida — are in a pretty tough spot, still very much in a drought. So for them, there’s not much they can do with these high prices, because they don’t have any grass or forage. There was nothing they could really do this winter, in terms of retaining calves.

“So you’ve got significant portions of cattle-producing states suffering through drought, forcing them to shrink or liquidate their herds because of a lack of forage,” he said. “When you have three consecutive years of that, you’re going to have a tightening of beef cow availability, which means you’ve got fewer calves being born each year. So you have tighter and tighter supplies, which of course leads to higher prices — assuming demand holds steady.”

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the total U.S. beef cattle inventory was at its lowest since 1962, declining more than 3 percent from the previous year to 28.9 million head. The inventory reported an entire cattle inventory of 89.3 million. Mitchell said he believes the forthcoming USDA Cattle Inventory report, expected in January 2024, will reflect a fourth consecutive year of contracting cattle supply in the United States.

Of course, there’s almost nothing that can’t price itself out of the market. At a certain point, Mitchell said, consumer resiliency will give way to more competitive pricing for — in this case — other animal proteins, such as poultry, pork and fish.

“People consume less of something when it gets more expensive — it’s just a law of economics,” he said.

Mitchell said that rebuilding the country’s beef cattle inventory will be a multi-year process — one that can’t really even begin under the persistence of drought.

“Pastures are going to have to recover before we see any discussion of expanding cattle numbers,” he said. “Even if that does occur, it’s going to take a couple of years for that expansion to be noticed. We don’t have the cows; it’s going to take a year to develop heifers, another year for them to give us calves, and so on. So we’re looking at a few more years of declining cattle numbers.

“An important thing that’s different from 2014-2015, is that it’s going to be more expensive to buy back in and expand herds,” Mitchell said. “Interest rates are higher than they were 10 years ago. We expanded the herds very rapidly in 2014, we did that with low interest rates — so capital was inexpensive. That should lead to more careful calculation in terms of how we decide to expand herds.”

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.

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The Year in Review, 2023: UAMS Opens Several New Buildings, Expands Clinical Programs

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Feral hogs, electronic grading, H2A on the agenda for 2024 Tri-State Soybean Forum set for Jan. 5 in Louisiana

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LONOKE, Ark. — Feral hog management, H2A guest farm worker updates and electronic grading are among the items on the agenda for the 2024 Tri-State Soybean forum as it rotates to Louisiana on Jan. 5.

The 2024 Tri-State Soybeam Forum rotates to Dehli, Lousiaina, on Jan. 5. (LSU image)

The 68th annual event will be held at the new Black Bear Convention Center, 231 Black Bear Drive in the northeastern Louisiana town of Delhi. The event opens at 7:30 a.m. with registration and ends with lunch at 12:15 p.m. There’s no cost to attend and registration will be on-site.

“Feral hogs and laws regarding guest farm workers are among the issues that cause sleepless nights for soybean farmers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi,” said Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We designed this annual forum to deliver information that can help our farmers work through these difficult issues.”

Arkansas Extension Soybean Agronomist Jeremy Ross give a 2022 year-in-review summary with learnings for 2023. He’s speaking at the Jan. 6, at the 2023 Tri-State Soybean Conference. The 2024 conference moves to Louisiana. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Mary Hightower)

This year’s agenda:

7:30 a.m.         Registration

8 a.m.              Welcome, LSU AgCenter Center

8:15 a.m.         H2A worker program update — Brian Breaux, commodity and public policy managing director, Louisiana Farm Bureau

8:45 a.m.         Heat stress and irrigation timing during extreme conditions — Trent Irby, extension professor-soybeans, Mississippi State University

9:15 a.m.         United Soybean Board and Louisiana Feed Grains update

9:45 a.m.         Electronic grading — Kevin Hoffseth, assistant professor-biological and agricultural engineer, LSU AgCenter

10:15 a.m.       Break — view exhibits

10:30 a.m.       State specialist updates:
David Mosley, assistant professor/soybean specialist, LSU AgCenter
Jeremy Ross, professor and soybean extension agronomist, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Trent Irby, extension professor-soybeans, Mississippi State University

11: a.m.           Solar Panels: Questions to ask before you sign — Rusty Rumley, senior staff attorney
National Agricultural Law Center, U of A System Division of Agriculture

11:30 a.m.       Feral hog control bait: Where are we and how long before it is available? — Glen Gentry, resident director, Bob R. Jones — Idlewild Research Center, LSU AgCenter

Noon               Presentation of scholarships and special recognition for services to the soybean industry

12:15 p.m.       Lunch 

For information about the event, contact R.L. Frazier, LSU AgCenter — office: 318-574-2465, or cell: 318-267-6714.

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.

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Issues That Matter: Readers' Rights: A First Amendment Discussion on Book Bans

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KUAR | By Daniel Breen

Across the country, libraries are becoming flash-points of conflict. Conservative advocacy groups, like Moms for Liberty, are clashing with librarians over restricting so-called controversial materials.

Arkansas is no exception, with high-profile fights cropping up in towns big and small.

Our panelists tackle the uncertainties surrounding book bans on Issues That Matter: Readers' Rights: A First

Amendment Discussion on Book Bans.Issues That Matter: Readers' Rights: A First Amendment Discussion on Book Bans

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Governor makes appointments to boards, including Corrections

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by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Governor Sarah Sanders announced the following appointments:

Board of Corrections
Brandon Tollett, Hot Springs Village, to the Board of Corrections. Term expires on December 31, 2030. Replaces Whitney Gass.

State Banking Board
Gary Head, Rogers, to the State Banking Board. Term expires on December 31, 2028. Replaces David Miller.

Allen Kerr, Little Rock, to the State Banking Board. Term expires on December 31, 2028. Replaces Russell Meeks.

Rusty Lanier, Little Rock, to the State Banking Board. Term expires on December 31, 2028. Reappointment.

State Board of Health
Dr. Justin Franks, Benton, to the State Board of Health. Term expires on December 31, 2027. Replaces Dr. Perry Amerine.

Governor makes appointments to boards, including Corrections

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YEAREND: Fertilizer prices ease, commodity prices fall from pre-season predictions

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By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The prices farmers receive for their crops is never determined in a vacuum — with war, weather and whatever else is going on with the global economy all having an effect. 

Those were the factors at work as corn, rice and soybeans all fell short of pre-season predictions. Prices for each of the commodities evolved with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Prospective Plantings Report” in March, and then its “Acreage Report” in June.

One decline that was welcome in 2023 was the cost of fertilizer, essential to agriculture. On the flip side, the one increase that the Federal Reserve was hoping would stop, was inflation.

INFLATION

“There's the rockets and feathers effect,” said Ryan Loy, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “When prices go up, they go up like a rocket, but when prices fall, what we see as consumers, they fall like a feather. It takes forever to actually come back down.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jeremy Powell speaking to reporters following the Federal Market Open Committee's Dec. 13, 2023, meeting. (Screenshot from Federal Reserve feed)

What seemed like “forever” — or at least since March 2022 — the Fed has inched up interest rates 11 times to try to slow inflation.

In its final action of the year, “the Fed has decided to hold interest rates at 5.25 to 5.50 percent for the third straight meeting of Federal Open Market Committee,” Loy said.

While that wasn’t a surprise, the Fed’s signaling for just three interest rate cuts of 0.25 percent each in the coming year, was.

“The markets were expecting six rate cuts in 2024 and that stocks and bonds would rally on that expectation,” Loy said. “While it hasn't happened yet, fewer cuts could mean the exact opposite, with stocks and bonds declining because of more expensive borrowing at the higher rates.”

Despite fears of a recession in early 2024, “I don't believe that anybody in the Fed or in the banking world thinks that we're going to be in a recession in at least the first quarter of 2024,” Loy said. “We're still going to have a pretty strong consumption and a strong economy.”

Looking ahead, Federal Reserve Chair Jeremy Powell said Fed will not be influenced on its rate decisions during the presidential election year. 

“We don’t think about politics, we think about what’s the right thing for the economy,” he told reporters during a livestream following the Dec. 13 meeting.

“We believe we are likely at or near the peak rate for this cycle,” Powell said. “We’re seeing inflation making real process. No one is declaring victory. That is premature.”

FERTILIZER

The global economy settled in the year since the shock brought on by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, helping drop fertilizer prices.

“Overall, fertilizer prices across North America fell about 34 percent between January and July according to Bloomberg Green Markets,” said Hunter Biram, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “This is because it was a relatively warmer year than 2023 compared to 2022 which eased demand pressure on natural gas, a key input in the production of nitrogenous and phosphorous fertilizers.”

In the south-central U.S. — Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee — urea fell 31 percent year-over-year to 20 cents per pound of fertilizer. Diammonium phosphate, or DAP, fell 40 percent, year-over-year to 26 cents per pound of fertilizer. Potash fell 41 percent year-over-year to 23 cents per pound of fertilizer.

The conflict was no small shock for the global economy. Russia ranks first, second, and third in nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizer exports while Ukraine accounts for a much smaller market share. Ukraine was third globally for corn exports and seventh for wheat. Russia is the world’s top wheat exporter.

CORN

“We were looking at almost a $6 futures price at the start of the season, and it fell to about $4.84 which is about 82 percent of the projected price,” Biram said.

“Corn came in at 2.1 million acres greater than what was projected in the ‘Prospective Plantings’ report,” he said. “That's a big deal. More supply driven by more corn production, generally translates into higher stocks on hand at the end of the growing season.”

In addition to more domestic production, Biram said weak exports were a driving force behind the price drop in corn.

“Total exports for the 2022/2023 marketing year came in at 26 percent less than the five-year-average and 34 percent less than the 2021/2022 marketing year,” he said. “Brazil and China entered into a bilateral trade agreement in the summer of 2023 which resulted in total exports to China for the 2022/2023 marketing year being slashed in half.”  

“On the flip side, things were less favorable for soybeans compared to corn,” Biram said.

Soybeans started the season at $13.65 versus the $5.94 for corn, but many growers opted to grow corn instead.

“You have to look at the production per acre. With corn, we're looking at about 175 bushels per acre, with soybeans, more like 50 bushels per acre,” Biram said. “The driving question behind the shift in acreage is ‘What do per-acre returns look like? The answer came in the form of increased planted acreage for corn and decreased acreage for soybeans.”

COTTON
Cotton was the only commodity that didn’t end the season with a lower price than the pre-season prediction, starting and ending at 85 cents a pound.

“Margins were not favorable by most yields across the state. Farmers had to make 1,200 pounds per acre or more, but the 2022 state average yield was closer to 1,100 pounds per acre,” Biram said. “Acreage was down as a result. High stocks and sluggish demand from millers resulted in depressed prices compared to 2022.”

“The outlook on demand for cotton lint is more favorable moving into 2024, but it may not be enough to raise the price up above 90 cents per pound,” he said.

RICE
In 2023, the world was eating more rice. The projected price for rice was $16.90 per hundredweight and $16.10 at harvest. Rice started strong because “consumption outpaced production in the global rice market,” Biram said.

And while U.S. harvested acres increased by 680,000 acres in 2023 compared to 2022 following two straight years of decline in harvested acreage, global production remained flat at 25.11 billion bushels.

“Global consumption increased 270 million bushels to 25.5 billion bushels,” Biram said. “This left global ending stocks mostly unchanged which left rough rice futures to remain above $16 per hundredweight, leaving the price at a level not seen since July 2013.”

SOYBEANS
Headed into the 2023 growing season, soybeans were projected at $13.65 a bushel, at harvest, the number fell to $12.84.

Biram said margins were less favorable for soybeans compared to corn and acreage dropped from expectations. The Prospective Plantings report pegged U.S. soybeans at 87.5 million acres. The Acreage Report found 83.5 million acres.

A significant factor was Brazil’s record soybean production of 5.88 billion bushels.

“This is a 23 percent increase over the 2021/2022 marketing year,” Biram said. “Brazil accounted for 43 percent of global production in the 2022/2023 marketing year while the U.S. accounted for 31 percent of global production.”

INSURANCE
Biram said one positive outcome from the 2023 growing season, “was that we saw much fewer losses compared to 2022, despite more acres being enrolled in crop insurance for corn and rice.”

According to the USDA, total losses in 2023 were $114 million across the U.S., compared with $345 million the previous year. The breakdown:

  • Corn: $28 million, which was about $27 million less than 2022 on 14,000 more insured acres.

  • Soybeans: $20.4 million, which was about $47 million less than 2022 on 159,000 fewer acres

  • Cotton: $2.5 million, a little more than $67 million less than 2022 on 100,000 fewer acres

  • Rice: $55.5 million, which was $92 million less than 2022 on 122,000 more acres.

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.

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4 US solar manufacturers join American Made initiative

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by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

Little Rock-based solar power developer Scenic Hill Solar announced Thursday (Dec. 14) that four U.S-based solar equipment manufacturers have joined an initiative to encourage the manufacturing of American-made array components.

The American Made, Arkansas Built initiative now includes Array Technologies, Shoals Technologies Group, OMCO Solar and APA Solar Racking. In 2022, Scenic Hill Solar launched the initiative with First Solar, Yaskawa Solectria Solar, Nextracker, Zekelman Industries and KORE Power Inc.

“With our nine premier partners in the American Made, Arkansas Built Initiative, we are pushing for a restoration of American leadership in renewable energy,” said Bill Halter, CEO of Scenic Hill Solar. “The solar industry began in the United States, but then manufacturing shifted overseas. Our partnership with these leading American companies will help bring the industry back home to America by focusing on innovation and collaboration among the premier American manufacturers of solar equipment and batteries.

4 US solar manufacturers join American Made initiative