A look at what the 2022 Prospective Plantings Report said about Arkansas.

Curious about where your food comes from? Have some unanswered questions about farming and ranching? In our new “Ask a Farmer” series, you send us questions and we get the answers. In Episode 1, Kallem Hill of Adona (Perry County) gives us the scoop on chickens and modern-day poultry farming.

Recently, Arkansas Department of Agriculture field staff have been working to ease a backlog of housing inspections for the H2A worker program utilized by many Arkansas farmers. Plant Industries Division Director Scott Bray outlined how the department was able to get involved and what plans are moving forward. Monroe County farmer Jon Carroll explained how these efforts helped his farm stay on schedule and why timely inspections are important for farmers.

We talk to Nathan Reed of Marianna, recently elected chairman of American Cotton Producers, the grower segment of the National Cotton Council. Reed talks about the organization, the state of the cotton industry and challenges ahead for cotton growers.

We talk about the impacts of inflation and world events on agriculture with Mississippi County farmer Heath Donner and economist and Arkansas Farm Bureau Senior Vice President Matt King.

Russia-Ukraine conflict causes turmoil in commodity markets and USDA lowers total red meat and poultry production and milk production estimates.

On Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Annual Outlook Conference, USDA unveiled their first look at 2022 agricultural production. USDA/NASS will conduct their first survey of producers in early March, and those findings will be released in the Prospective Plantings report on March 31.

Trent Dabbs of Stuttgart joined us to explain how shortages and increased input costs are making it difficult for row-crop farmers in Arkansas and around the country to solidify plans for the upcoming planting season.

In this episode, we turn the spotlight on “urban agriculture,” or growing and raising of food in more urban environments. We introduce two siblings based in Little Rock and Pine Bluff who are promoting urban farming and educational efforts throughout the state. They have a unique story and big plans and they sat down with us to talk about how they got started in the urban farming arena and what they hope to accomplish.

Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Jason Brown was on hand for the 28th annual Arkansas State University Agribusiness Conference in Jonesboro, where he spoke to Chelsie Keys, GOP Senate Ag policy director, and journalist Jim Wiesemeyer of Pro Farmer/Farm Journal.