LITTLE ROCK — Whole state declared natural disaster area
The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated all of Arkansas as a primary natural disaster area because of the summer’s heat and drought that damaged crops and livestock. The designation was made Friday and announced in a news release Tuesday.
Linda Newkirk, executive director of the state’s Farm Service Agency, said she could not find records of another time when the whole state was declared a primary natural disaster area, but it has come close before. In 2006 and 2007, 68 counties were designated primary natural disaster areas.
Farmers in all 75 counties who experienced losses of more than 30 percent and meet eligibility requirements will be able to apply for emergency loans with interest rates of 3.75 percent.
Producers have eight months to apply for the loans, which they can do through local Farm Service Agency offices. More information is available online at http://disaster.
fsa.usda.gov.
Prices of diesel fuel dip after 3-week gain
The average price for diesel fuel across the U.S.
fell to $3.17 a gallon after rising for three consecutive weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Energy weekly survey of diesel prices.
Truckers driving through Arkansas on Tuesday paid $3.07 per gallon on average, down a penny from last week, according to AAA’s daily Fuel Gauge Report. They paid $2.73 per gallon a year ago.
Prices in Little Rock remained unchanged at $3.07 per gallon. In the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers area, diesel cost an average of $3.05 per gallon Tuesday, down 2 cents from a week ago.
Prices also fell a penny in Fort Smith to $3.11 a gallon, and in Pine Bluff the price dropped 2 cents to $3.04 a gallon. Diesel prices in Texarkana fell 5 cents to $3.08 a gallon.
Arkansas Index falls as 12 stocks decline
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.90 to 189.78 Tuesday.
“U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday after news that North Korea fired on a South Korean island, combined with continued stress over economic problems with several European Union members, including Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Spain,” said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. “The Arkansas index moved lower as 12 stocks dropped while five finished higher.”
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 27 on 11/24/2010