Stories by Laurie Whalen

  • Tyson beef unit breaks even

    Tyson Foods Inc. on Monday said its struggling beef division broke even during the January through March period. The Springdale business said the performance o…

  • Warm weather launches farmers markets

    Most of the state’s estimated 85 farmers markets will open by May, but a number of them have started selling earlier than usual, thanks to unusually mild weath…

  • Net loss widens at Arkansas Best

    A weak first-quarter performance by Arkansas Best Corp. of Fort Smith was made worse by three one-time charges that represented 43 cents of a 71-cent loss per …

  • P.A.M. profit a 1st in 5 years

    P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. on Wednesday reported its first profit in the first quarter in five years.

  • Farmers have till May 1 to settle

    Arkansas dairy farmers have until May 1 to agree to a $145 million settlement with cooperatives across the Southeast and Dean Foods of Dallas, the country’s la…

  • Trucker reports 35% rise in profit

    J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. on Thursday said it achieved record firstquarter profit as growth came from its truck-to-rail and logistics segments.

  • Poultry jobs set for Fort Smith

    OK Industries Inc. of Fort Smith said Friday that it will hire 182 workers over the next two months, a combination of recalled and new positions, to work in it…

  • 2 oppose Mexican chicken-leg tariff

    Arkansas’ U.S. Sens. John Boozman, a Republican, and Democrat Mark Pryor were among 16 members of the upper chamber who asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kir…

  • Turbine plant’s opening delayed

    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. announced Monday that it is indefinitely delaying the opening of a wind-turbine assembly plant in Fort Smith. The Japanese com…

  • Winter good to reserves of hay

    Forage experts with the University of Arkansas say a mild winter helped cattle farmers avoid exhausting their hay reserves because of the growth of certain coo…

  • S. Korean pact meaty for Arkansas

    U.S. agriculture exports will grow by $1.8 billion every year under a bilateral trade agreement with South Korea that took effect Thursday, the U.S. Department…

  • Tyson opens its Founder’s Room

    The Founder’s Room, an exhibit of corporate memorabilia related to Tyson Foods Inc., is on permanent display at corporate headquarters, company officials said …

  • Allens to sell most of frozen division

    Allens Inc. on Friday said it will sell the majority of its frozen-vegetable operations, acquired from Birds Eye Foods Inc. in 2006, to the North American subs…

  • Tyson to bankers: Finances healthy

    Tyson officials on Wednesday played up the Springdale business’ financial health and access to more lucrative, foreign markets to investment bankers attending …

  • Vineyard hopes Prophecy is divine

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a patent for a wine grape called Prophecy to Mathew and Thomas Post of the Post Familie Vineyards in Altus.

  • Farm markets get a try in fight against obesity

    Grant money from a federally funded Farmers Market Promotion Program will help two Arkansas-based nonprofits move forward this year with efforts to attract mor…

  • Health records contract awarded

    The state of Arkansas awarded a contract this week to establish its State Health Alliance for Records Exchange — a digital infrastructure that would allow a di…

  • USA Truck reports loss of $4.4 million in quarter

    USA Truck Inc. on Monday reported a fourth-quarter net loss that was larger than the one it reported a year ago. The Van Buren based company blamed its perform…

  • Tyson 1st-quarter profit down 48%

    Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale saw its first-quarter profit fall, saying a “rough patch” in the beef sector contributed to the weakness in the October-through-…

  • Tyson’s partner hits deal on diesel

    A producer of renewable diesel backed by Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Wednesday that a deal with the Mansfield Oil Co. will increase its fuel sales to b…

  • Trane set to slash 59 jobs in state

    A representative with Trane Inc. on Monday said the transfer of coil production to South Carolina will reduce the hourly work force at its Fort Smith plant tha…

  • Arkansas Best in black, trails forecast

    Arkansas Best Corp. on Friday said higher average freight rates during the October through December period contributed to a profitable fourth quarter, but the …

  • J.B. Hunt quarterly earnings rise 25%

    J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. on Thursday said efforts to “drive out cost and create efficiency” in part helped its fourth-quarter earnings performance.

  • Animal dosing debate restarts

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month said it will limit the extralabel use of cephalosporins on food-production animals such as cattle, swine, chic…

  • Lindsey creditor contests debt deal

    U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren on Tuesday heard arguments that a bankruptcy court erred when it overlooked fraud and allowed former real estate develop…

  • Food safety plan said on horizon for small farms

    James Meeks said creating a paper trail of the farm management practices on his tomato farm in southeastern Arkansas is a time-consuming and paperwork-intensiv…

  • Chicken supply falls, prices rise

    Poultry production data released this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show cutbacks made by the commercial chicken industry are helping boost aver…

  • Bill tries to speed trucker tracking

    A group of trucking companies, including J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell, hopes to sidestep the federal agency regulatory process to hasten adoptio…

  • Savings shine for poultry houses with LED lights

    Salesmen at NextGen Illumination Inc. of Fayetteville are pounding the pavement to increase demand for a lighting product promising big savings for chicken far…

  • Builders to turn soil for luxury hotel

    The folks who show up at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for Bentonville’s 21c Museum Hotel will have a chance to see an architect’s rendering of what the luxu…

  • Condominium glut, loan snags depress market

    This year is shaping up to be one of the worst for condominium sales in Benton and Washington counties. Real estate experts say difficulty acquiring loans and …

  • Airline out to add passengers in state

    SeaPort Airlines wants passengers from Harrison, Hot Springs and El Dorado to fill its nine-seat aircraft so it can continue to qualify for a U.S. Department o…

  • Tyson profit tumbles 54 percent

    Tyson Foods Inc. on Monday reported fourth-quarter gains in beef, pork and prepared foods segments helped counter a $82 million loss in its chicken segment.

  • Discussion assists state’s Asian farmers

    About a dozen Hmong farmers gathered earlier this week as part of a community round table discussion to help promote the use of government programs.

  • Vineyard mechanization toasted

    Owners of Midwestern vineyards employing some form of mechanization have heard of Justin R. Morris — a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Ar…

  • Testing starts on biodiesel jet fuel

    Dynamic Fuels begins testing its 20 percent biodiesel jet fuel blend in a limited number of commercial flights in the United States, months after a similar exp…

  • Trucker steers in 3rd-quarter profit

    Officials from Arkansas Best Corp. on Friday said the pricing strength of its trucking business had recovered during the July-through-September period as the F…

  • Carrier reports loss for quarter

    USA Truck Inc. on Friday reported a net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, and said its board of directors unanimously declined meeting with Celadon Group of…

  • Truck firm to ponder merger

    USA Truck on Tuesday said it would consider but not comment on a trucking competitor’s proposal to discuss a merger. Investors, however, spoke, pushing up the …

  • Incubator of business expanding

    Virtual Incubation Co, a for-profit technology incubator in Fayetteville, said this week that it’s starting a sister business near Boston.

  • Poultry company to appeal decision

    Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the poultry giant in Greeley, Colo., “will appeal accordingly” a $25.8 million court decision that favors a group of poultry growers mos…

  • UA team takes on hog waste

    A small team of researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville are experimenting with techniques to lessen the environmental impact of swine manure.

  • ABF Freight president to retire at end of year

    Wesley Kemp, president and chief executive officer of the trucking company owned by Arkansas Best Corp., will retire at the end of the year as part of a corpor…

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