This week, we talk to representatives of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture about the recent Local Conversations event in McCrory, and we catch up with two recent inductees into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. We also speak to Keith Perkins, an agent with the Lonoke County Cooperative Extension Service, about the implications of recent wet weather for planting season.

This week, it's all about policy issues, as we recap the just-completed Arkansas Farm Bureau President's Advocacy & Leadership Tour to Washington, D.C. We talk to the members of the Farm Bureau team who lead the trip about what was accomplished and why it's important for Arkansas farmers and ranchers to have their voices heard on Capitol Hill.

This week, we talk to Tracy Dunbar, Chair of the UAPB Department of Agriculture, about the school’s recent Rural Life Conference and we sit down with Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Brandy Carroll to learn more about the Arkansas Abandoned Pesticide Program. We also get an update on the latest Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton & Arkansas Soil Health Alliance meeting.

This week, we talk to John Lewis, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service, about the long-range weather outlook and we sit down with Cooperative Extension Service entomologists to talk about insect problems farmers could face this year. We also visit with Ralph Pinkerton of Garland County Farm Bureau and Melony Ritter of National Park College in Hot Springs to talk about the recent Arkansas Farm Bureau Candidate Forum hosted by the college.

This week, we talk to Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas about legal issues in agriculture and we learn about the importance of agricultural activism from speaker and logging industry veteran Bruce Vincent. We also hear from Ed Swaim, Executive Director of the Bayou-Meto Water Management District.

A Diversity in Agriculture conference has been set for Feb. 27-28 in an effort expand the awareness of the career and business opportunities that exist in agriculture. The conference will allow participants to explore opportunities through success stories and networking. It also is intended to foster an expansion of public and private partnerships within agriculture, Arkansas’ largest industry sector, accounting for more than $20 billion annually.

This week, we talk with members of Arkansas Farm Bureau commodity boards about the recent Winter Commodity Meeting in Little Rock and we learn what's going on with the Arkansas Forestry Association.

This week, we talk with experts on the outlook for rice in Arkansas in 2020 and the potential impact of the EPA’s final rule defining “Waters of the U.S.” We also get some helpful tips on preventing timber theft on farms, ranchers and other private property.

This week, we attended the 101st annual American Farm Bureau Convention in Austin, Texas. We sat down with two of the event’s workshop leaders to discuss the economics of farming and the science of gene editing for agriculture. We also talked to Arkansas Farm Bureau President Rich Hillman, who gave us his thoughts on the event and explained the importance of the policy development process that wrapped up on the final day of convention.

This week, we talk with soybean and trade experts about the latest news on trade negotiations and the road ahead in 2020. We also get the latest on the pork industry from Dr. David Newman, president of the National Pork Board and Arkansas State University animal science professor and learn about new urban agriculture classes being offered at the St. Joseph Center in North Little Rock.