News in brief

Nominations sought for Agriculture Hall

The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame, which honors people who have contributed significantly to the state's largest industry, is seeking nominations for its class of 2014.

"The history of Arkansas agriculture is filled with great men and women," said Cal McCastlain, chairman of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame, in a statement. "The role of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame is to honor the worthy individuals who made a profound impact on Arkansas agriculture."

The Farm Bureau Center in Little Rock houses the Agriculture Hall of Fame, which is sponsored by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

Since its first class was selected in 1987, 142 people have been inducted.

Additional information and online nomination forms are available at arkansasaghalloffame.org. The nomination deadline is Nov. 14.

-- Brian Fanney

Poultry inspection changes prompt suit

A federal employee union is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over changes to the poultry inspection system.

The American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit on Monday that says federal employees no longer have a role inspecting viscera, better known as giblets, at processing plants that have adopted the new system.

The union said the law requires all meat sold for consumption to pass through the hands of a government inspector.

The USDA said the new rule, which went into effect Monday, gives the industry more responsibility over visual examination of carcasses, but allows government inspectors to focus on testing for food-borne illnesses.

The rule will reduce the number of federal inspectors.

-- Brian Fanney

Day ends 4.32 lower for Arkansas Index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 4.32 to 343.65 Wednesday.

Fifteen stocks on the index fell and two advanced.

Shares of USA Truck fell 4.6 percent in light trading.

ArcBest shares fell 3 percent on only about half its average volume.

Murphy Oil declined 2.6 percent in average trading.

Windstream was the best performing stock, gaining 0.4 percent in below-average trading.

Total volume of the index was 18.2 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 10/23/2014

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