Chicken and Food Poisoning

According to the CDC, more than about a million people get sick from eating poultry contaminated with harmful germs. That’s why it’s important to take steps to protect your health and the health of your loved ones when it comes to chicken.

Read More

Fruit and Vegetable Safety

It’s National Food Safety Education Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six Americans get sick from eating contaminated food. Eating a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables provides important health benefits, but it’s important that you select and prepare them safely.

Read More

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs are one way for you to support the farmers in your community by buying seasonal produce directly from the farmer. Often it’s more affordable for the consumer and more profitable for the farmer because you’re cutting out expenses such as store costs and packaging. CSA is basically a […]

Read More

13 Things You Didn’t Know Were Made From Sweet Potatoes

February 22 is National Cook a Sweet Potato Day, and we wanted to recognize the fact that Arkansas is one of the country’s top producers of these healthy, delicious vegetables. Records from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture show that farmers in eight counties grew sweet potatoes on 5,000 acres in 2017, a crop valued at […]

Read More

Rural Focus: Highland Pellets in Pine Bluff

It’s been a wet winter in Arkansas, and that can be a challenge for a business that relies on dry wood. The Highland Pellets plant in Pine Bluff, which opened in 2016, needs trees to produce the tiny wood pellets it makes and ships to the United Kingdom for use by British power company, Drax. […]

Read More

An Apple a Day… Takes the Cake?

We’ve all heard the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” If not 100 percent accurate, it definitely indicates just how healthy apples really are. Apples are portable, low in calories, inexpensive and make for a great no-mess snack. It’s best to eat an apple with its skin. The skin provides insoluble […]

Read More

Going Organic: A Q&A with Shawn Peebles

Shawn Peebles is an all-organic farmer. He runs Peebles Organic out of Augusta and everything he grows on the 1,500 acres he farms follows the strict organic guidelines necessary to be certified as “organic produce.” He’s been at it for 15 years, growing edamame, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes and processor pumpkins. Organic farming is […]

Read More

Burned by a Deep Freeze, Part 2

Some three months after a week-long run of freezing and much-colder-than-normal April temperatures, Arkansas fruit farmers are finding out the true extent of the damage to their crops, particularly peach growers. See how berry growers are making out in the first part of our story from earlier this month. Peaches Peaches seemed to get the […]

Read More

Burned by a Deep Freeze, Part 1

As the fruit and berry season heats up, farmers are tallying the losses from April’s deep freeze. by Gregg Patterson, Arkansas Farm Bureau staff It’s  July, some three months after a week-long run of freezing and much-colder-than-normal April temperatures. The high in Little Rock hit 95 degrees with a heat index of 105. It’s that […]

Read More