We wrap up the Arkansas AgCast for the year by recapping some of the top farming news stories of the year and finish out the day with some Christmas trivia too.

In Keo (population 246), 20 miles southeast of Little Rock, Shane Cummings farms 375 acres of mature pecan trees. Most are decades old, but they still produce 400-500,000 pounds annually or about 20 percent of the state’s yield. See Cumming's beautiful orchards as he explains the complexities of pecan growing and harvesting HERE.

The Governor’s Food Desert Working Group held a press conference today to release their report and recommendations for taking actionable steps to lessen the number of food deserts in Arkansas. We spoke with Kathy Webb, Co-Chair for the Food Desert Working Group, and Mayor Zola Hudson of Altheimer about the development of the group, their hopes for the future and battling food deserts in the Natural State.

The inaugural Arkansas Harvest Recap today in downtown Keo featured farmers recapping their year, crop experts and representatives, including Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. Organizer Seth Summerside says the event was "an opportunity to kind of call a timeout, figure out what happened, what is working, what is not working, and take a look at 2023.”

Christmas Tree farmers work hard, too. It can take more than 70 hours per week and more than a decade to get ready for a chaotic 10-day harvest. Pea Ridge grower Martin Babb enjoys the work at his majestic Wonderland Christmas Tree Farm.

As we head to the holidays, we wanted to provide those who missed President Rich Hillman's speech at the annual convention the ability to learn about how Arkansas Farm Bureau Makes it Matter.

We were proud to have Amberly Snyder return to be our Keynote at the 88th Annual Convention. Hear a few words from her as well as see her at the convention.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau (ArFB) Federation announced that Bryan Pistole has been promoted to Director of Public Relations. The promotion comes after eight years with the Federation, where he most recently served as creative director. Pistole has more than 30 years of experience in graphic design, video production, web services and event management.

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