Club Scrub Workshop set
The Ivy Center for Education Club Scrub Workshop will meet from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday at UAMS South Central Medical Center, at 1601 W. 40th Ave. There will be a suturing demonstration and discussion on the Life of a Family Physician, according to a news release.
The workshop will be presented by UAMS South Central residents Christina Monroe, Mohammad Elsherief, and Ahmed Amin. Students in 7-12th grades are encouraged to attend. (Everyone should enter from the rear of the building.)
Those who cannot attend in person may join via Zoom with Zoom ID -856 8296 4187 and Password – 351061. Details: President Mattie Collins at mattie1908@gmail.com.
Dry conditions increase wildfire risk
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Parts of Arkansas are experiencing dry conditions, increasing the risk of wildfires. Sparks from activities such as fireworks, outdoor equipment, or open flames can ignite dry vegetation and cause fires to spread quickly, according to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
To help Arkansans understand wildfire risk, the department maintains a county-by-county wildfire danger map with four risk levels: extreme, high, moderate and low. Risk levels are based on fuel conditions, drought status, and long-term weather forecasts.
Currently, many counties across the state are at moderate risk, with burn bans in effect for Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Madison and Washington counties.
SAFETY TIPS
Avoid outdoor burning and any activity involving open flames, including fireworks, campfires, trash burning, grilling with open flames and prescribed or controlled burns.
Use caution when driving or operating machinery in dry areas. Avoid driving over dry grass, ensure trailer chains are off the ground and do not drive on flat tires.
Be aware of dry conditions when outdoors. If using fireworks, keep water nearby to quickly extinguish any sparks.
If you see a fire, call 1-800-468-8834. Avoid flying drones near fires, as they can interfere with firefighting efforts.
Keep up to date on conditions across the state by viewing the county-by-county wildfire map and following the department on social media. View the current wildfire risk map at mip.agri.arkansas.gov/agtools/Forestry/Fire_Info.
Year of highs, lows for rice growers
Across the board, row crop farming in 2025 was not an easy row to hoe in Arkansas — and rice production was no exception.
Affected by the same external forces as most Arkansas growers — major storms and flooding in April, a hot, dry summer, high input costs and suppressed commodity prices — rice producers fought to keep their footing throughout a turbulent year, according to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said Arkansas rice growers saw a bit of every possible outcome in 2025.
“If rice farming were a sport in 2025, it would have been Ping-Pong,” Hardke said. “Rice yields were up and down and extremely inconsistent. While some growers were pleased with their overall outcome, most had something to be disappointed with for both grain yield and milling yield.”
Hardke described growers’ biggest obstacle in 2025 as nature laying down “constant suppressing fire.”
“Really — if you keep getting shot at, which bullet is the one you’re worried about the most?” he said. “Torrential flooding rains in early April, followed by scattered persistent rains in May and into June, followed by a prolonged period of high nighttime temperatures and drought, as already-low prices begin to plummet midseason, then a rapid harvest in dry conditions but overdry grain and suboptimal milling yields.”
Arkansas growers harvested 1.25 million acres of rice in 2025, according to a November Crop Production report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a reduction of about 180,000 acres from 2024. Production also saw a significant drop, from more than 109.4 million hundredweight to an estimated 92.6 hundredweight.
While U.S. rice didn’t suffer identical challenges to U.S. soybeans in international trade, the commodity certainly saw its fair share of hurdles, according to the news release.
“While our U.S. market has produced a great deal of rice the last couple of seasons, contributing to our oversupply situation, international trade is still the overriding factor,” Hardke said. “Large quantities of rice on the world market from India and South America are helping to create low prices.”
Looking toward the new year, Hardke said many growers will likely struggle to keep — or even put — their balance sheets in the black.
Arkansas is the nation’s biggest rice grower and the crop generated $1.55 billion in cash farm receipts, according to the Arkansas Agriculture Profile.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.