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Dr. Tony E. Windham |
Ken Smith's phone rarely stops ringing. He and other Division of Agriculture weed scientists are logging thousands of miles and hours in the fields and on the phone this summer, responding to calls for help from farmers, agents and consultants about herbicide-resistant weeds.
"I've been in this business a long time," Smith said. "This is the most severe threat I've seen to the agricultural way of life in the last 30 years." Smith, Bob Scott, Nilda Burgos and Jason Norsworthy are racing against the clock to develop fast solutions to glyphosate-resistant horseweed and pigweed.
"When horseweed first came in, we put in over 1,000 plots in the first 2 1/2 years," Smith said. "We've scrambled to find answers."
"It used to be we'd stay on the leading edge of research and test an answer for 3 years before making a solid recommendation, but those days are gone," Smith said. "The farmers facing these situations want answers immediately. They do not want us to wait even one year. They want the results while research is still in the field."
Their ability to develop solutions for constantly moving targets earned the Division weed scientists international recognition. And Smith says because of the commitment from scientists like Norsworthy and superior lab facilities here in Arkansas, other states, such as Louisiana, have begun sending weed samples to test for glyphosate resistance.
In addition to handling current resistance issues, Division weed scientists are trying to anticipate development of resistance in other weeds such as barnyardgrass and johnsongrass. The Division of Agriculture isn't alone in its work, sharing partnerships with regional and national conservation districts and professional groups in addressing the consequences of herbicide-resistant weeds, including a decrease in conservation tillage.
Their work has attracted the attention of Arkansas' congressional delegation. When Smith isn't in the field or taking media questions about herbicide-resistant weeds, he's preparing presentations for legislative groups and a national organization of conservation districts in Washington.
Smith has gotten used to the constant calls and sees them as good news.
"Bob Scott's phone is just like mine," Smith said. "When they do call, you know that people are listening to our recommendations and following through. They're not just calling to see how we're doing."
Ken, Bob, Jason and Nilda are fighting a battle that is continuing to intensify. We're grateful not only for the work they're doing to help Arkansas farmers, but also for the recognition they're bringing to the Division of Agriculture.
- Tony E. Windham
Northeast Arkansas Rice/Soybean Field Day to Be Held August 7
The 2009 Northeast Arkansas Rice/Soybean Field Day will be held on Friday, August 7, in the Weiner area. This field day will highlight University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture research that applies specifically to rice and soybean production in northeast Arkansas. The rice research is located southwest of Weiner near Lake Hogue, and the soybean research is located northeast of Weiner on the Scott Matthews farm.
The rice tour will begin at 8:00 a.m. and feature stops on rice varieties, rice fertility, rice insecticide seed treatments and rice diseases. Featured speakers include University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture researchers and specialists Dr. Chuck Wilson, Dr. Nathan Slaton, Dr. Gus Lorenz and Dr. Rick Cartwright.
The soybean tour will begin at 9:45 a.m. and include stops on soybean varieties, soybean weed control, soybean insects and soybean diseases. Presenters will include Dr. Jeremy Ross, Dr. Bob Scott, Dr. Gus Lorenz and Dr. Scott Monfort.
The program will conclude with a sponsored steak lunch at 11:30 a.m.
For more information, contact Rick Thompson at 870-578-4490 (rthompson@uaex.edu) or Randy Chlapecka at 870-523-7450 (rchlapecka@uaex.edu).
- Randy Chlapecka
Monthly Gift Summary - June 2009
The following chart summarizes gifts and noncash gifts deposited in June 2009 to advance the programs of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
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Cumulative Giving |
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June 1 - 30, 2009 |
Fiscal Year 2009 |
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Monthly Gift Count |
Monthly Gift Total |
Fiscal |
Fiscal |
| CES Administration | 3 | $153,853.00 | 57 | $285,591.35 |
| Finance and Administration | 1 | $3,000.00 | 1 | $3,000.00 |
| Delta District | 0 | 0.00 | 9 | $6,370.00 |
| Ouachita District | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | $8,350.00 |
| Ozark District | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | $2,500.00 |
| 4-H Youth Development | 1 | $1,500.00 | 5 | $32,000.00 |
| Agriculture and Natural Resources | 24 | $256,665.00 | 170 | $1,272,805.95 |
| Community and Economic Development | 14 | $2,505.00 | 102 | $29,342.40 |
| Family and Consumer Sciences | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | $500.00 |
| Arkansas 4-H Foundation |
63 |
$75,760.11 |
542 |
$301,695.94 |
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TOTALS |
106 |
$493,283.11 |
894 |
$1,942,155.64 |
Arkansas Wins Top Hay Titles for Ninth Straight Year at National Conference
Arkansas growers earned the top hay titles for the ninth straight year at the 2009 American Forage and Grassland Conference.
During the last nine years producers involved in the Arkansas Quality Forage Program have captured the top award as well as 24 of the 26 Bermuda hay quality awards presented by the AFGC.
The top three award winners were Paul Arnold of Pea Ridge with a Greenfield variety entry, Jimmy Jarvis of Hiwasse with a Midland-99 variety entry and Jim Jarvis of Gravette with a Vaughn's variety entry. Contest scores were extremely close for all six Arkansas entries, reflecting the Bermuda hay quality that customers have come to expect. These three entries had average quality scores of 18 percent crude protein, 64 percent total digestible nutrients and 146 relative feed quality.
Other Quality Forage producers placing in the top 10 were Gene Bennett of Gentry, Jamey Styles of Coal Hill and Ron Jarvis of Gravette.
"We're proud of the excellent quality Arkansas farmers/ranchers are growing," said Tony Windham, interim associate vice president- extension for the Division of Agriculture. "It's a testament to the teamwork between the growers and our agents and faculty as they put our research-based information to work."
The Quality Forage Program, which began in 1998 and maintains producer involvement from across Arkansas, northeastern Oklahoma and southwest Missouri, is sponsored by a number of local and area agri-businesses who help make it a one-of-a-kind project. In addition to hay quality, producer accomplishments have been noted in the areas of yield, fertilizer efficiency and environmental management practices over the last 11 years.
- Robert Seay
Lewis Receives Nutrition Advocate Award
On May 6, 2009, Shirley Lewis, Pulaski County EFNEP program assistant, received the Nutrition Advocate Award from the Nutrition Section of the Arkansas Public Health Association. She was honored through Arkansas' Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which is an EFNEP partnering agency. According to WIC, Shirley worked diligently with WIC participants, teaching them about healthy eating and budgeting as it relates to the food dollar.
- Bridgette Youngblood
Division of Agriculture Annual Awards Event Comes to Little Rock
Extension instructors and faculty are asked to keep Friday, January 8, 2010, open for the annual University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Awards luncheon. This event, held in northwest Arkansas in 2008 and 2009, will be held in Little Rock in 2010. The luncheon includes presentation of the John White Awards. Details about times and location are yet to be announced.
- Christina Miller
New Employee Orientation Program Being Remodeled
In response to feedback from employees who completed the Training Needs Assessment Survey in May, the former new employee orientation program is being redesigned to more closely meet employee and job-specific needs. Referred to as new employee "onboarding," the new program has four components:
1. An online New Employees Welcome Center web site open to all employees and recruits will contain background information on Arkansas and Extension, organizational structure, policies, professionalism, an overview of computer systems and vocabulary. It will contain orientation podcasts, frequently asked questions for new hires and their supervisors, as well as job-specific pages for county extension agents, specialists, program assistants and technicians, support staff and others. This site should be available within the next three months.
2. A one-day workshop, "Check-In and Tune-Up for New Hires," will be held at the Little Rock State Office on October 8, 2009. It will feature a general session on "Arkansas, Extension and You" that will provide a big picture of extension work. Morning and afternoon breakout sessions will focus on information needs and support for specific positions and focus areas. An Info Expo featuring information tables hosted by various support units will allow employees to get answers to specific questions. More details on this workshop will be forthcoming. This workshop is required for any employee hired since October 2008 who has not attended New Employee Orientation. New hires should enroll via In-Service Training by September 15, 2009.
3. A Mentoring and Job Shadowing Program will pair employees with trained mentors who have held similar positions.
4. Supervisor Training for Onboarding New Hires will help supervisors with special issues and processes related to new hires. This component and the mentoring program will begin redesign in late fall.
Questions? Contact the co-leads: Lisa Ferris, Program and Staff Development, at lferris@uaex.edu and Sharon Reynolds, Ozark District Director, at sreynolds@uaex.edu. Also, feel free to discuss the new program with the current Faculty Leadership Program members who are participating in design and delivery activities. They are Angie Freel, Lance Kirkpatrick, Jack Boles, Elena Garcia, Willa Williams, Scott Monfort and Melanie Malone.
- Lisa Ferris
Effective E-Mails: Short, Sweet and to the Point
With nearly 1 billion people sending more than 180 billion e-mails globally a day, how can you be sure your e-mailed message won't be lost in the shuffle? Here are a few tips:
A few e-mail statistics from a 2008 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project:
(Source: Radicati Group, 2007, 2006)
- Mary Hightower
Speed the Web Posting Process by Submitting Editable Documents
Employees sending newsletters and other materials for web posting must submit them in a form that can be edited before posting. There are two reasons for this: (1) to ensure consistently high standards in grammar and (2) to ensure the file meets the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
When sending materials to Donna Rinke, please submit a Word document instead of PDFs. While newer PDFs do allow some edits, generally these are not enough to meet the requirements outlined above.
If you have any questions, please contact Bob Reynolds at 501-671- 2128 or breynolds@uaex.edu.
- Bob Reynolds
Grants and Contracts
| Project Title | Award Amount | Principal Investigator | Granting Agency |
| FY09 Soybean Commodity Survey |
$20,000.00 |
Gus Lorenz | USDA, APHIS, PPQ |
| Agronomic Limitations of Soybean Yield and Seed Quality in U.S. | $65,167.00 | Jeremy Ross | Iowa State University |
| Evaluation of Delta Geographic Concentration Project | $43,918.00 | Deborah Tootle | Mississippi State University |
| Beaver Lake Lake Smart Program | $8,000.00 | Katherine Teague | Beaver Water District |
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Total |
$137,085.00 |
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