Arkansas Farm Bureau (ArFB) has promoted Bryan Pistole to creative director. Pistole has more than 30 years of experience in graphic design, video production, web services and event management. He has been at ArFB for more than six years and previously served as assistant director of public relations, visual communications.

Madison Felts and Josey Webb have been hired as summer interns for Arkansas Farm Bureau.

Read the latest edition of the Farm Bureau Press.

On this week’s edition, we hear about recent Arkansas Supreme Court rulings related to the state Plant Board, get the latest on cotton planting in Arkansas and get to know Lauren McCullough, one of the hosts of Good Roots, the new Arkansas PBS segment sponsored by Arkansas Farm Bureau.

Thanks to some generous donations from Rocking F Ranch in Patterson, 13 students in Woodruff, Cross and Jackson counties will be able to show pigs in the Three County Fair this fall. Ranch owner Wes Fairchild and his son Tucker talked about the benefits of owning and showing animals like these.

Justin Reynolds has been promoted to vice president of the Organization and Member Programs (OMP) department at the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation. In his new role, Reynolds will be responsible for coordinating and implementing all Farm Bureau programs and activities related directly to county Farm Bureaus throughout Arkansas. Jeremy Wesson has been promoted to director of OMP, and he will be responsible for the effective coordination of all work with county Farm Bureaus to launch and improve programs offered to members.

More than 20 years since its inception, construction on the final phases of the White River Irrigation District surface water project is about to begin. State officials gathered recently to announce that construction of canals to deliver water from the river to area farms has been funded, signaling completion of the project within the next two to three years.

On this week’s edition, we talk Arkansas weather with KATV meteorologist Todd Yakoubian and we learn about the next stage of construction on the Grand Prairie Irrigation District.

Dr. Andrew Sharpley has had a major impact on agriculture in Arkansas. Sharpley, who retired recently as a Distinguished Professor in the department of crop, soil and environmental sciences for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, is known for his work helping establish the Arkansas Discovery Farm Program and his focus on agricultural conservation practices. Sharpley took some time to reflect on his lengthy career and his work with Arkansas farmers and ranchers.

Bobby and Karen Bradford own BoBrook Farms LLC and River Bottom Winery in the Roland community west of Little Rock. They were named the 2020 Pulaski County Farm Family of the Year. BoBrook Farms is an agritourism operation and the Bradfords enjoy inviting the public to the farm to enjoy the comfortable setting, the pumpkin patch and hayrides they have in the fall and learn about agriculture and life on a farm. This is their story.