State's milk output flat in first quarter
Milk production in Arkansas was flat for the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year, according to information released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The state's dairy farmers produced 24 million pounds of milk for the January through March period, the same amount as in the first three months of 2014. A gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds.
The fourth quarter of 2014 was flat at 22 million pounds of milk produced, and the third quarter showed a decline compared with the same period in 2013. The first and second quarters of 2014 did not have comparable data because surveys were not completed in April and July 2013.
Nationwide, U.S. milk production was 51.9 billion pounds for the first quarter of 2015, up 1.7 percent from the first quarter last year.
The number of milk cows in Arkansas for the January through March period stood at 7,000 in 2015, down from 7,500 for the same time in 2014. Nationally, there were 9.3 million dairy cows in the first quarter, 88,000 more than the year earlier.
-- John Magsam
Farm-grant program taking applications
Fruit, vegetable, nut and floriculture farmers in Arkansas have until May 29 to apply for a federal grant designed to help them develop markets for their crops.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department said about $307,000 will be available to Arkansas producers as part of the specialty-crop block grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service. Any applications will be considered for inclusion when the state submits its proposal for funding through the grant program.
More information about the program is available by contacting the state Agriculture Department's marketing director, Zachary Taylor, at (501) 219-6324 or by email at Zachary.Taylor@aad.ar.gov.
-- Glen Chase
Arkansas Index adds 1.27; P.A.M. up 5%
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.27 to 403.59 Tuesday.
"The major averages ended a choppy session mostly lower as the latest assortment of earning releases failed to provide a definable catalyst for traders," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.
P.A.M. Transportation shares spiked more than 5 percent and set a 52-week high during the session, Williams said.
Murphy Oil dropped 1.5 percent on average volume, he said.
Total volume of the index was 29.5 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 04/22/2015