Front Porch Magazine | Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021

o n l e M Wars

The Great (and Friendly) Arkansas Watermelon Rivalry

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

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8 CONTENT Guest Column Mike Freeze

Helping Farmers, Helping You Warren Carter

Friendly Feud Keith Sutton

Helping Hummingbirds Dan Scheiman

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Rural Road Stories

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Taste Arkansas

28

Member Services Update

32

Zoie Clift

Rob Anderson & Ashley Wallace

Delta Child

Talya Tate Boerner

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Cover design by Bryan Pistole

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GUEST COLUMN

by Mike Freeze

ARFB VICE PRESIDENT

Mike Freeze is vice president of Arkansas Farm Bureau and a co-owner of Keo Fish Farm, the largest hybrid striped bass hatchery in the world and one of the largest triploid grass carp producers in the United States. He is a past commissioner and chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, as well as a former AGFC employee.

I

Fish Commission has 11 private lands biologists to assist am an environmentalist and conservationist. Before landowners in managing wildlife on private property. you think I have lost my mind, please let me explain I recently met with new Game and Fish Director that I am also a farmer. You see, when many people Austin Booth, as well as two other former Game and Fish think of an environmentalist/conservationist, the first image Commissioners, and the topic of wildlife on private lands that pops into their brain is some tree-hugging idealist came up. I believe Director Booth has a firm understanding who wants to save the world, regardless of the impact upon of the importance of private landowners in managing our people’s lives. state’s wildlife.

However, when I think of an environmentalist/ We also discussed the new Arkansas Farm Bureau conservationist, the first image that pops into my mind program that allows livestock owners who are experiencing is that of a farmer. When I use the term “farmer,” I am livestock depredation by black vultures to using it in an all-inclusive manner Whether it is through sign up under Farm Bureau’s U.S. Fish and that means crop farmers, livestock Wildlife Black Vulture Depredation Permit producers, foresters, fish farmers, no-till farming, the so they can protect their animals from these etc. To me, farmers are the ultimate vicious birds. And of course, the topic of environmentalists and conservationists, planting of buffer strips, feral hogs came up. He understands the because they make their living off the water re-use systems immense amount of damage these animals land, and they go to great lengths to or a myriad of other can do to agricultural crops, timber and protect that land. even our native wildlife.

Whether it is through no-till conservation practices, Whether it is assisting private farming, the planting of buffer strips, farmers are constantly landowners with a control burn, establishing water re-use systems or a myriad of wildlife travel corridors, or increasing the other conservation practices, farmers seeking ways to protect number of bobwhite quail on their property, are constantly seeking ways to protect the land. the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is the land. Many of these practices committed to assisting private landowners benefit the wildlife present on this land. who want their help.

For instance, Arkansas Farm Bureau helps fund a series One AGFC program worth noting is Acres for Wildlife, of “Discovery Farms” that are located across our state and a free environmental action plan which targets all wildlife the data from these Discovery Farms will allow farmers in species and gives special emphasis on species of greatest the future to become even better environmentalists and conservation concern. It improves habitat and encourages conservationists. landowners to consider wildlife needs in conjunction with Have you ever wondered why so many farmers are good farming, livestock production and forestry practices. hunters and fishermen? Farmers are connected to the land The program does not retire cropland or grazing land, nor in a way that is difficult for non-farmers to understand. does it open “posted” land to hunters. This is left entirely to Almost everyone loves watching a beautiful sunrise or the discretion of the landowner. sunset, but farmers get to experience such natural beauty I am proud to be a farmer, as I know many of you are almost every single day. The land that they farm holds a as well. Farmers, all of us, want to leave this world a better special place in their heart as they watch the cycle of life place, while at the same time provide a growing world unfold with fawns being born, turkeys being hatched, etc. population with the food and fiber it needs. I think we are Did you know that 75% of wildlife are on land belonging to doing a great job of both, and I hope you think so too. • farmers and ranchers? That is why the Arkansas Game and

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Official membership publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation mailed to almost 190,000 member-families.

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Included in membership dues ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU OFFICERS:

President • Rich Hillman, Carlisle Vice President • Mike Freeze, Little Rock Secretary/Treasurer • Dan Wright, Waldron Executive Vice President • Warren Carter, Little Rock DIRECTORS:

Jon Carroll, Moro Joe Christian, Jonesboro Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart Jack Evans, Lonoke Sherry Felts, Joiner Chase Groves, Garland City Tom Jones, Pottsville Terry Laster, Strong Gene Pharr, Lincoln Caleb Plyler, Hope Rusty Smith, Des Arc Joe Thrash, Houston

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Contact Paula Caruthers at Publishing Concepts for advertising rates pcaruthers@pcipublishing.com (501) 221-9986, Ext. 109 Fax (501) 225-3735 Front Porch (USPS 019-879) is published quarterly by the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation 10720 Kanis Rd., Little Rock, AR 72211 Periodicals Postage paid at Little Rock, AR POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rhonda Whitley at rhonda.whitley@arfb.com Front Porch • P.O. Box 31 • Little Rock, AR 72203 Please provide membership number Issue #120 Publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

HELPING FARMERS, HELPING YOU

with Warren Carter ARFB EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

A

ll around our state, morning alarms are going off a little earlier, the buses are rolling, the backpacks are full and homes are just a little quieter during the day. School is back in session and Arkansas children are shaking off the summer cobwebs so they can continue an educational journey that will prepare them for a bright future.

Preparing for the future is important. If you’ve read this column at all during the past year, you know I believe strongly in building a strong foundation for the future of agriculture in Arkansas. This effort isn’t just important to me, of course, it’s also a critical part of the Arkansas Farm Bureau mission, and it relies heavily on supporting agriculture education in our state.

It may be cliché to say that our children are the future, but it is undoubtably true. It’s also true that most children in Arkansas and in our country as a whole do not grow up on a farm, even if they live in rural areas where agriculture is the primary industry. This makes it all the more important that they understand the role farming plays in our economy and culture and, at the most basic level, where their food comes from and who produces it.

While Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom team never truly slows down, this is the time of year when their preparation and work truly begins to pay off. The Ag in the Classroom program was created to promote awareness of the importance of agriculture to our communities, state, nation and the world to students in all grade levels. The program offers K-12 classroom materials, unique educational programs and grants, and, in addition, the Ag in the Classroom team plans and hosts regular teacher workshops.

This year, Arkansas Farm Bureau’s education and Ag in the Classroom team worked with the Young Farmers & Ranchers program and the Women’s Leadership Committee on a school supply drive during the month of August and developed and delivered a new “Bringing Farming to the Classroom” booklet that explains to students how their basic school supplies relate to agriculture. Also, we are preparing to send out the Ag Tech

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Training Lab - a state-of-the-art mobile teaching tool - for its second year of trips to high schools around the state. The AgTech Training Lab includes realistic excavator, combine and log-loader simulators that allow students to see what it’s like to operate heavy equipment and can help them learn job skills and earn valuable certifications.

We are also welcoming applications (available on the Arkansas Farm Bureau website) for Outdoor Classroom Garden Mini-Grants, which encourage and support efforts by teachers to develop gardens that include common agriculture crops like vegetables and fruit and corn, wheat, rice and soybeans. All of this is on top of the variety of Ag in the Classroom print materials that are made available to educators for download at www.arfb.com.

Finally, the Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation, our 501(c) (3) nonprofit fundraising arm has awarded more than $80 thousand in grants to support agriculture education and rural communities since 2017, and in 2020, it committed $150,000 to both the Arkansas 4-H and Arkansas FFA Foundations to support the development of new facilities and the growth of these key leadership development and educational programs. In addition, the Foundation provides more than $100,000 annually for educational materials, the Garden Grants program, educational trailers, teacher workshops and other activities to engage Arkansas students and highlight the role of agriculture in their lives.

All of this is about seeding the field of agriculture’s future in Arkansas and it all begins in the classrooms around the state. Arkansas Farm Bureau will do its part, but I encourage you to learn more about Ag in the Classroom and our ongoing educational efforts and to share this with educators and parents you may know.

In fact, if you want to find out about grants, programs and more that are available for your community, scan the QR code and visit the Education page on Arkansas Farm Bureau’s website. • 5

LCFBPFP010521

No matter what the future brings...we’ll be there.

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FRIENDLY FEUD: How Hope and Cave City Became the Dueling Watermelon Capitals of Arkansas

T

Story & photos by Keith Sutton

here’s little debate that Arkansas produces some of the best watermelons in the country, but which part of the state can lay claim to growing the best of the best?

We visited two proud towns to try to find an answer.

On the surface, Hope and Cave City would seem to have little in common.

Hope, a city of 10,000, lies on the flat, open terrain of southwest Arkansas’ blackland prairie, not far from the border with Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It was founded in 1873, when a railroad was built through the area and was named for Hope Loughborough, the daughter of a railroad executive.

Cave City has far fewer people — population 1,904 — and is situated in rolling hills along the eastern edge of the Ozark Mountains. Founded in 1890, it sits opposite Hope in the northeast corner of the state, 60 miles south of Missouri. It took its name from Crystal River Cave, a former tourist attraction (now closed) that lies directly beneath the town square.

While the two towns differ, they have one important thing in common: both have widespread reputations for producing big, delicious watermelons, and that has resulted in a friendly feud that’s been ongoing for decades. Hope declares its melons are the world’s largest. Cave City says it grows the world’s sweetest. Both towns try to sweet-talk folks into visiting their corner of the state to buy their melons instead of their neighbors’.

To celebrate their claims of melon greatness, Hope and Cave City also host popular summertime watermelon festivals (hopemelonfest.com, cavecitywatermelonfestival.com) where guests can sample slices of the icecold, locally grown fruit and participate in activities like watermelon eating and seed-spitting contests. Watermelons have become a source of civic pride in both towns and keystones of the local economies.

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Hope’s History

Watermelons were brought in to diversify farming in the Hope area when cotton prices hit rock bottom in the early 1900s. In 1916, seed-seller John S. Gibson founded the first growing contest to see who could produce the biggest one.

That turned out to be local growers Edgar and Hugh Laseter who harvested the first true giant, a 136-pound watermelon, on Aug. 12, 1925. That melon, packed in a crate labeled “The Wonder Melon from the Wonder State,” was shipped to President Calvin Coolidge, and the melon presentation ceremony was broadcast on radio. The excitement surrounding it gave the Hope Chamber of Commerce the idea to host the first watermelon festival, which it did the following summer.

Hope’s huge watermelons changed the city from a beleaguered farm town into a hub for cultural events and activities. Special trains carried riders from Little Rock and Shreveport to the annual festival where the day’s program included a parade with floats, bands and decorated cars.

A queen was crowned, dignitaries spoke, and bands played for dancers who crowded the park, skating rink and streets. Everyone feasted on free watermelon.

The first five festivals were hugely successful, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. But the crowds who brought untold profits to local businesses also strained the city’s infrastructure to its breaking point. With no space to handle the masses and no money in the worsening Depression to start building anything new, the Hope Chamber of Commerce shuttered the festival in 1930.

Oscar Middlebrooks briefly revived Hope’s watermelon fever when he pulled a massive specimen from his field in Hempstead County in September 1935. After being weighed on official scales, the 195-pound melon was declared not only the biggest to ever come out of Hope, but the largest in the world, a record that would stand for 44 years. The Chamber of Commerce wanted to present it to President Franklin Roosevelt, but since he was unavailable, they sent it to Hollywood movie star Dick Powell, an Arkansas native. By the first week of October, photos of Powell with the enormous melon had appeared in more than 800 continued on page 10>>

Tommy Warren of Valley View Farms in Hempstead County, who’s been growing watermelons for close to 20 years, shows off one of his “yellow meat” melons.

Yellow melons have a honey-like flavor and are slightly sweeter than red melons.

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Ivan and his son Lloyd grew the first 200-pounder, and, in 1985, Ivan’s grandson Jason won the competition with a 260-pound specimen that landed him in the Guinness Book of Records. In 2005, Lloyd Bright raised the bar even higher with a 268.8-pound giant, another Guinness record-holder.

“The big melons are not only famous for their taste, they’re clearly famous for their size,” says Mayor Still. “They’re grown by people who are in competition to grow the biggest. Those farmers will grow a whole bunch of melons, then they’ll pick the prize specimens and grow them separately. They turn them over every day, water them and basically treat them like their kids to produce these big melons.”

Hope Mayor Don Still stands proudly in front of a wall mural highlighting Guinness World Record watermelons grown in his area. <<continued from page 9

American newspapers.

Despite the hubbub created by Middlebrooks’ massive melon, more than 40 years passed before the Hope Watermelon Festival made a comeback. Hope celebrated its centennial to great fanfare in 1975, leading city officials to search around for ideas for an annual festival. C.E. “Pod” Rogers at the Hope Star newspaper suggested it might be time to revive the watermelon festival. For years, he had been a tireless promoter of the Hope watermelon, which he called the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” He took samples to fairs and talked about the melons on television, and he convinced the Chamber of Commerce to resurrect the festival in 1977.

“My dad said the festival simply got too big to handle back in its early days,” says Hope Mayor Don Still. “I remember seeing pictures taken at the park, and it would be completely full of people. You couldn’t squeeze another one in there. I think that’s one reason it took a break and then came back in the 1970s.

Now we’re going strong again, and we keep adding stuff every year, which really brings people in. It’s a hometown day for the city of Hope.”

Many of the larger melons competing in the revived festival have come from a farm on a sandy ridge east of Hope owned by Ivan Bright. In 1979,

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Hempstead County’s Tommy Warren shows the “sandy loam dirt” that he credits for the sweet, sizable watermelons in his area. The soil, he says, is due to the proximity of the Red River.

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Cave City Mayor Jonas Anderson stands in front of his town’s sign touting it as “home of the world’s sweetest watermelons,” a brag Hope area growers may dispute.

Cave City’s Story

The history of watermelon growing in Cave City doesn’t go as far back as it does in Hope, but by 1938, a Watermelon Grower’s Association for Sharp and Independence counties had been organized in the Ozarks community. By 1958, the group had 127 members who owned a total of 1,000 acres planted in watermelons.

“In the 1940s and ‘50s, watermelon growing really took off in this area,” says Cave City Mayor Jonas Anderson. “A lot of watermelon growers started coming forward and putting in crops. They started the watermelon festival in August 1980 and, after that, as they say, the rest is history. It’s just taken off.”

That first festival, dubbed the Cave City Watermelon Parade, was a one-day event that showcased “The World’s Sweetest Watermelons,” as they would thereafter be known. Vendor booths were scattered throughout town to encourage parade goers to visit city merchants.

But the hottest, driest summer in memory almost put the brakes on the big get-together even before it started. continued on page 12>>

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<<continued from page 11

Almost all the local farmers lost their melon crops to the drought, and there was a drastic shortage of the very fruit the event was built to promote.

Fortunately, farmer Herschel Runsick grew his watermelons in the moist Strawberry River bottoms that year and was able to provide them for all 2,400 people who attended the festival.

In the years that followed, the festival grew into a three-day affair. Catfish dinners, pancake breakfasts, talent shows, watermelon-judging contests, 5K runs, ice-cream-making contests, car shows and local entertainment filled the event calendar.

“The festival is a big deal,” says Mayor Anderson.

“We get people from all over the United States and from Japan, Europe and other foreign destinations who somehow find their way here, too. The biggest thing about our festival is it’s a free event, and it always has been. You can see Grammy-winning musicians and it doesn’t cost you a dime. It’s just like a big family reunion. We have people who haven’t lived here in 40 or 50 years, but they have ties here, and they come back every single year.”

The Patterson Brothers – Jaret, Jacob, Joseph and Jace – sell melons at a stand along Main Street in Cave City.

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Stirring the Pot

For a while, organizers of the Hope and Cave City watermelon festivals refused to budge from scheduling their events on the same weekend, just to aggravate one another.

But they eventually agreed that Arkansas is plenty big enough to host two watermelon festivals and started holding their events at separate times. In 2021, Cave City held its festival on the last weekend in July and Hope held its on the first weekend of August.

“You absolutely need to go to both festivals — the one here and the one in Hope,” Anderson says. “With the festivals on different weekends, there’s really no excuse not to.

You can take in all we have to offer in Cave City. Then, after that, you have a week to recuperate and you can go down to Hope and take in their festival.”

But even as one city leader smiles and tries to put the friendly feud behind him, the other throws a jab at his counterpart like a boxer who just put on gloves for a title fight.

“Well, Mr. Anderson,” says Don Still. “I hope y’all have a really great festival up at Cave City. But if folks truly want the sweetest watermelons, they need to come on down to south Arkansas because we’ve been doing it since the 1920s. Come to Hope and enjoy the best watermelons.”

Anderson offers a counter punch.

“I appreciate the shout out, Mayor Still.

And yes, you guys have got really good watermelons in Hope, I’ll give you that. But the sweetest? I don’t know. We literally have The World’s Sweetest Watermelons right there on our sign. So I do have to say, if you want to get the absolutely sweetest watermelons, you have to come to Cave City for that, my friend.”

It’s all in good fun, more like a pillow fight than a heavyweight slugfest. The mayors stir the pot mischievously, but smile as they do so, knowing that the friendly competitive nature of their watermelon war will bring more visitors to their towns for the next festival. continued on page 14>>

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WATERMELON TRIVIA <<continued from page 13

Farmers’ Perspective

At Valley View Farms on the Red River in Hempstead County, Tommy Warren has been growing watermelons for 20 years. He has planted as many as 60 acres and as little as five, with experience showing that 12 to 15 are just about right.

“Some years we’ve wondered if we would be able to sell all the watermelons we grew, and other years the river has flooded our ground and taken them all,” he says, standing in the middle of a field full of the big fruits. “But overall, it’s been a good experience. I’ve put my kids through school with watermelons, and I recommend it to any young farmer who wants to get started. It’s a good cash crop.”

Warren says the river is the reason watermelons grow so well in the Hope area. “On the interior of our farm, there are places where we have solid clay soil,” he notes.

“You couldn’t grow a watermelon there if you wanted to.

But the sandy loam soil right along the Red River is very well suited for growing watermelons. That’s the sweet spot.”

That choice of words — “sweet spot” — makes Warren smile extra big because he believes that watermelons grown near Hope have a sweeter flavor than any other place.

“You can go to produce stands and buy watermelons from all over the country,” he says. “But watermelons grown in the Red River Valley have a sweeter flavor than any place else. People passing through on the interstate at Hope stop to buy melons because they know they’re the sweetest watermelons around. I can’t argue with that.”

Jace Patterson with Patterson Brothers Watermelons in Cave City might beg to differ. With his father and brothers, he grows melons on a stretch of sandy soil that runs through their Ozark Mountains farm. And like Tommy Warren, he believes that special soil type imparts a taste folks love, a taste that makes those Sharp and Independence county melons the sweetest on the planet.

“We have zones in Cave City that have this sandier soil,” he says, “And that soil is what makes our watermelons sweeter than any other. People come from all over the country to buy them. For instance, we just had a lady from Maine stop by. She bought 15 melons and said she’ll turn right around and drive them back home. Hearing things like that is a big source of pride for us. Farmers in Cave City have been growing watermelons long enough that they’ve built a good name and reputation for it. When we put our registered trademark stickers on our watermelons — “Genuine Cave City Watermelon, Best of the Crop” — I think that embodies our pride. It’s what we’re known for.” •

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• Watermelons are indigenous to southern Africa where they were developed from a native vine.

• Watermelons are raised on about 200 farms covering 1,500 acres in Arkansas. The annual crop value is more than $5 million.

• Do you recognize these names?

Crimson Sweet, Jubilee, Star Brite, Sweet Favorite, Shiny Boy, Yellow Baby, Triple Crown, Moon and Stars, Sugar Baby, Exclamation, Excursion, Fascination, Tiger Baby. They’re all varieties of watermelons grown in Arkansas.

• Most watermelon varieties yield between 30,000 and 38,000 pounds per acre.

• At least four world-record watermelons were grown in Arkansas. The current 350.5-pound record was grown by Chris Kent in Sevierville, Tenn. in 2013. It was about 50 pounds larger than the average NFL lineman.

Scan below to see a video on the friendly HopeCave City watermelon rivalry and hear more from the mayors and growers in both towns.

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Hummingbirds HELPING

by Dan Scheiman

What makes hummingbirds so amazing?

Some would say it’s their fast and furious lifestyle.

They flap faster than any other family of birds. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds beat their wings more than 50 times per second and smaller species flap even faster. Correspondingly, their hearts beat as fast as 1,260 beats per minute. To fuel their high metabolism, they have to eat at least 1.5-times their body weight daily. It has been estimated that a hummingbird will visit as many as 3,000 individual flowers in a single day, as well as catch protein-rich insects and spiders. A hummingbird dips its tongue into a flower about 20 times a second.

Not amazing enough for you? Well, their behaviors are jaw dropping, too. Not only can they hover in midair, but they can fly straight up, straight down and even backwards. They can do this because their wings move in a figure-eight pattern, giving them lift from the upstroke as well as the downstroke. Though tiny, they are perfectly capable of flying nonstop for 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico during migration, a journey that takes 18-22 hours to complete. They do not migrate on the backs of geese.

Nor do not migrate in flocks, but many individuals will take advantage of favorable weather conditions to migrate at the same time.

Hummingbird colors are eye catching. Their iridescent feather

colors are not from pigments, however, but from the way light hits and is split by the structure of the feather, sort of like a prism.

So, depending on lighting and viewing angle, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s red throat can appear black. There are over 300 hummingbird species in the world, all restricted to the Western Hemisphere, and their colorful appearance is sometimes reflected in colorful names, such as: blossomcrown, brilliant, emerald, firecrown, jewelfront, metaltail, mountain-gem, sapphire, snowcap, starfrontlet, starthroat, sunangel and topaz.

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Are hummingbirds becoming scarce?

Though this question pops up around the state almost every year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird populations are stable. Data indicates they are leaving their winter homes in Mexico and Central America earlier in the spring in response to warming winter temperatures. This means they are arriving in the U.S. up to 15 days earlier than they did decades ago.

The distribution and abundance of hummingbirds in any given location in Arkansas depends on season and habitat. During spring migration we see an influx as they move north.

They visit our feeders in numbers because they need the fuel for their long journey and because there aren’t many flowers available in the spring.

In early summer, feeder visitation rate slows, migrants have moved on and we’re left with only the birds that have decided to breed here. They’re territorial, so one bird guards its food supply against intruders.

They nest on tree branches in forested areas. A treeless landscape continued on page 18>>

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“

If you do offer sugar water there are a few rules to follow. Use only white, granulated table sugar.

Mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts water; stir until dissolved.

Boiling is not necessary, but boil the water, then remove from heat before adding sugar. Never add red dye or preservatives; these are harmful.

” 17

<<continued from page 17

will host few to no hummingbirds, whereas you can visit a forested state park and see many individuals at feeders all season long. During the breeding season there are plenty of wildflowers, so they don’t need our feeders as much. Plus, they feed their young insects and spiders. Native insects need native plants, so a large, manicured lawn with only a few ornamental plants, and where insecticides are sprayed, offers no food for hummingbird babies.

In late summer, after young fledge, we’ll see an uptick at feeders as young strike out on their own and adults begin migrating south.

Numbers build through the fall until they have all departed for the winter by beginning of November, and we won’t see them again until mid-March.

How can you best prepare your property to host hummingbirds?

Hummingbirds, like most landbirds, feed their young insects, not nectar. Insects contain protein and fat that babies need. Native insects are tied to native plants. Think Monarchs and milkweeds.

One study of chickadees found it takes 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to raise one clutch. Native trees like oaks support hundreds of caterpillar species. So if you want to feed the birds, plant oaks and other native plants.

Of course native plants provide nectar too. There are a variety to choose from that bloom at different times to provide nectar throughout the season for hummingbirds and other pollinators.

Those with red, tubular flowers like Trumpet Honeysuckle (the native kind, not the exotic invasive Japanese Honeysuckle), Red Buckeye, Cardinal Flower, Turk’s Cap, and Scarlet Beebalm are especially adapted for hummingbirds. But flowers don’t have to be red and tubular. Hummers will also feed on a variety of other flower colors and shapes, like sunflowers, milkweeds, blazingstars, and more. Of course, there are non-native plants that are hummingbird magnets, but those don’t host as many insects as their native alternatives.

If you do offer sugar water to feed hummingbirds, there are a few rules to follow: • Use only white, granulated table sugar.

• Mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts water; stir until dissolved.

• Boiling is not necessary, but boil the water, then remove from heat before adding sugar.

• Never add red dye or preservatives; these are harmful.

Most feeders have red parts to attract attention.

• Clean feeders every 3 days in cool, mild weather. Clean every day when temperatures are over 90 degrees.

• Use soap and water with every nectar change.

• Use an ant moat to deter ants; never use Vaseline, grease, or other ointments. If any bird comes in contact with that stuff it will ruin their feathers, which may result in death.

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In addition to planting native plants and keeping your feeders clean, another thing everyone can do to make their homes safer for hummingbirds and other birds is to prevent window collisions. Each year in the U.S. up to a billion birds die in collisions with glass. The reason is simple: Birds can’t see glass. They see a reflection of the outdoors and think they can continue flying. You have to create a visual barrier using decals, strings, netting or film. Whatever you put up has to be closely spaced in a regular grid pattern following the 2x4 rule. Studies have found that a bird is unwilling to fly through a space that is smaller than 2 inches across vertically and 4 inches horizontally. Though for hummingbirds that gap is smaller. Google “bird glass collisions” to see solutions.

Dan Scheiman

What are popular myths about hummingbirds?

One is that keeping feeders up in fall will prevent them from migrating. Hummingbirds migrate when their hormones are stimulated by day-length changes. The urge to migrate is strong. It is good to keep feeders up until you no longer see any more birds because they need that sugar water to help fuel them on their long journey.

Another is that a hummingbird uses its bill like a straw to suck nectar. A hummingbird’s tongue tip is forked and lined with hair-like extensions called lamellae. When inside the flower, the fork splits and the lamellae extend outward. As the bird pulls its tongue back, the tips come together and the lamellae roll inward. This action traps the nectar within the tongue.

Hummingbirds are mini but mighty marvels. Help them continue to thrive by being a responsible host who ensures your yard is safe and healthy for them and other birds. •

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

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A WELLSPRING OF HISTORY TO BE FOUND IN SEARCY

T

by Zoie Clift, staff travel writer for Arkansas Tourism

he town of Searcy, which is around 50 miles from Little Rock, is a destination where you can find interesting slices of Arkansas heritage. Here you can see the oldest church building in the state, the oldest functioning courthouse in the state, visit the largest county fair in Arkansas, and come across other interesting finds, including the town’s history.

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The city was initially a small resort community called White Sulphur Springs. The natural springs that inspired this name have since dried up but you can still see some remnants at Spring Park, the city’s historic park and current location of Sulphur Spring.

Israel Moore is an important historical figure for the town as he was one of the first property owners there and donated the area that is now this park for people to use. He is also the one behind the layout of the streets you see there today, which he famously named after streets in Philadelphia, where he formerly lived. Surveying public lands in this region of the state for the U.S. government was what brought him to Arkansas in the first place in the late 1830s.

When visiting Searcy, there are a number of spots to check out with interesting historical ties. Here are a few options to start with on your next venture there!

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

Smyrna Church

Smyrna Church

Located on Jaybird Lane a few miles west of town This antebellum Methodist Church from 1856, which has since been renovated, is said to be the oldest church building in the state.

Harding University

Located at 915 E. Market Searcy is a college town and this 200-acre university draws students from around the country and offers arts and athletic events for the community. An interesting museum, the Linda Byrd Smith Museum of Biblical Archeology, also calls this university home. The museum curator there is archaeologist and Harding University Professor Dale Manor, who is also the field director for the Tel Beth-Shemesh dig site in Israel. The museum is open to the public Monday- Friday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. or by appointment. It is also used as an added educational resource for students of biblical studies and archaeology.

The 1874 Black House

At 300 E. Race Avenue This restored 1870s Italianate home on the National Register of Historic Places now houses the Searcy Art Gallery. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the Benjamin Clayton Black House is one of the few remaining examples of early Victorian architecture in Arkansas.

The 1874 Black House

White County Courthouse

Located at 300 North Spruce Street Known as the oldest functioning courthouse in the state, this building is also listed on the National Register. While around here, be sure to keep an eye out for Art Alley, which showcases murals by local artists. The alley is located behind the businesses of Spruce Street. The alley is an everchanging canvas of art so new installments can be seen often there.

White County Courthouse

continued on page 22>>

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<< continued from page 21

The 1923 Rialto Theater

Located at 100 W. Race Avenue This landmark is one of only a few historic theaters which still shows daily movies. The 67foot Art Deco marquee was added in 1940 during renovations.

Pioneer Village

The 1923 Rialto Theater

Located at 1200 Higginson Street This collection of a re-created 1880s settlement, including a blacksmith shop, school, post office, barn and more, is under the reins of the White County Historical Society.

The American Legion Hut

Pioneer Village

Located at 112 W. Race Avenue This historic rock building is near the Rialto Theater and was built in the mid 1930s with locally sourced materials. It first served as a gathering place for WWI vets and is now undergoing renovations.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The American Legion Hut

Yarnell’s Ice Cream Company

Located at 205 S. Spring Street This company is owned by Turkey Hill Dairy now but Ray Yarnell first started this business in Searcy in the 1930s.

White County Fair

If you are in town during fair time, be sure to stop by this event. The White County Fair is the largest county fair in Arkansas and has taken place since the 1930s.

Yarnell’s Ice Cream Company

After you’ve taken in the heritage, the region’s beautiful outdoor options also shouldn’t be missed if you are in or near Searcy. The Little Red River flows by here and is home to world-class trout fishing and kayaking. Several access points are available, including at Riverside Park Road. Nearby, Lake Barnett is a small and narrow Arkansas Game and Fish Commission lake that winds for around 3 miles through a landscape of forested hills and rock bluffs. Historic Spring Park is part of a system that includes other parks in town, each offering their own flavor of recreation options. There are many parks in town including Berryhill, Riverside and Yancey. Another outdoor option nearby is the Lercher 15 Bike Trail at B.J. Ranch. This spot at 544 Shiloh Road in McRae offers 17 miles of trails to bike or walk on. It is privately owned and there is a fee to visit. •

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

COVID-19 TREATMENTS IF YOU TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAB) are used to treat mild or moderate COVID-19 in some adult and pediatric patients. This therapy uses proteins that mimic your body’s immune response to fight off harmful viruses and can prevent patients from developing severe symptoms of COVID-19 and being hospitalized. MABs work best when started soon after symptoms develop.

Talk with your primary care provider as soon as possible after testing positive or visit healthy.arkansas.gov or call 1-800-803-7847 to see if you are eligible for MAB therapy.

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TA S T E A R K A N S A S

Dairy Delicious Try these prize-winning recipes for your next meal or party

T

en-year old Emma Kate Powell of Lowell and her family enjoy an occasional breakfast meal at dinnertime. That’s why she mastered the recipe for Mexican Quiche that won her the top prize in the “Main Dish” category of the 2021 Arkansas Farm Bureau Dairy Foods Contest.

Powell and 16-year-old Harlie Lockhart of Hope are the big winners in the annual contest, with Lockhart taking home the prize in the “Party Ideas” category for her corn dip.

Each contestant was required to send in their recipe, a brief summary of why they selected it, as well as a video of them making the dish. Judges then reviewed each contestant’s submission before making a final decision. Powell and Lockhart were selected over three other finalists in their respective categories, and each received $150 gift cards for their first-place finishes.

“I like my Mexican quiches because they are fun and easy to make. My family eats breakfast for dinner a lot, so it’s always super easy to whip these up and pop them in the oven,” said Powell, who is the daughter of Jeremy and Tracey Powell.

She even described her ideal meal centered around 28

Story Rob Anderson & Ashley Wallace Photos by Ashley Wallace

her quiches.

“I would serve these for a weeknight dinner, along with a breakfast meat – sausage or bacon – and hashbrowns, fresh fruit and milk,” she explained.

Lockhart is the daughter of Mark and Mindy Lockhart. “I like this recipe because it has lots of different flavors and it can be used in a lot of different ways,” she said of her winning dip.

Runners-up for the Main Dish competition were 12-year-old Brady Daniell of Arkadelphia, second place; 11-year-old Aliza Keeling of Jerusalem, third place; and 10-year-old Avery Randleman of Paragould, fourth place. Other finalists in the Party Ideas category were 10-year-old Sloanne Hardesty of Clarksville, second place; 13-year-old Randa Rhodes of Waldron, third place; and 17-year-old Wesley Watkins of Paragould, fourth place.

Whether you eat them for dinner or not, you can try Powell’s winning quiches yourself by following the recipe below. And, if you’re planning a party or just a casual back-porch gathering, Lockhart’s corn dip may be just what you need.

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

Mexican Quiche From Emma Kate Powell – Age 10

Ingredients • ½ c butter or margarine, softened • 2 large eggs • 3 oz. cream cheese, softened • ½ cup whipping cream • 1 cup flour • ¼ t salt • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese 1 t pepper • 8 • 1 can chopped chilies, undrained Instructions 1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour and beat well. Shape dough into a ball; cover and chill for 20 minutes.

2. Shape dough into 36 balls. Place in ungreased mini muffin pan and shape each ball into a shell.

Divide shredded cheese and green chilies evenly among the shells.

3. Whisk together eggs and remaining three ingredients. Spoon mixture evenly into shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

4. Yield: 3 dozen

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TA S T E A R K A N S A S

Corn Dip

From Harlie Lockhart – Age 16

Ingredients • 5 strips bacon • 1-2 Tablespoons salted butter • Salt/Pepper • 3 cups fresh corn (you’ll need 4-5 ears) • 3 cloves garlic, minced • ¾ cup red onion, diced • 1 small red bell pepper, diced

• • • • • • •

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 cup sour cream 1 packet Ranch Seasoning Mix, equal to 2 tablespoons 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 2 green onions, plus more to garnish

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over low heat until crispy on each side. Remove and place on paper towels. Crumble the bacon once cooled. Leave the bacon drippings in the pan.

3. While the bacon cooks, use a sharp knife and carefully cut the kernels off the corn. (Hint: Propping the corn on a bundt pan makes it easy to hold the corn and catch the kernels.)

4. lncrease heat to medium-high and add the corn to the bacon drippings. Sauté for about 10 minutes, adding butter as needed. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add the garlic, red onion and peppers to the skillet over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Remove from heat.

6. ln a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, Ranch Seasoning, HALF of the cheeses and diced green onion. Add the softened vegetables and seasoned corn and stir to combine.

7. Transfer to a baking dish.

8. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered. Add the crumbled bacon and cook for 5 more minutes.

9. Garnish with additional green onions and serve.

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by Talya Tate Boerner

The Magic of Summer D

uring my childhood, the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day held the most magic of the year. I don’t know if my age made it so, or location (growing up on a farm in northeast Arkansas brought a particular sort of magic), or perhaps it was the time (the 1960s until 1980 when I graduated from high school). I imagine all three of these factors played a part. Without one, the memories wouldn’t be quite so extraordinary.

It was a different time; the world was smaller then.

The news was delivered to our mailbox in the form of a daily Memphis newspaper and a weekly local one, and into our den three times a day, received with a degree of wide-eyed awe that no longer exists.

If Walter Cronkite reported it, we believed without question. But I digress.

The activities my sister and I looked forward to in summer unfolded with little effort on our part, some happening regularly, some when we were extra lucky or well-behaved (or both). Our days were wide open and full of possibility, like blank pages waiting to be filled from margin to margin, with crayon marks and fingerprints and popsicle dribbles and pollen from the wildflowers we collected along the ditch bank.

And fill the pages of summer, we did.

Give us a prop of some sort — bikes or hula hoops or a jump rope or Matchbox cars or Barbies or even, no, especially, the water hose — and we could entertain ourselves until the last drop of sunlight drained from the day.

Shove us out to play with nothing but our imaginations and were still as fine as frog hair, climbing trees, cloud-gazing, sprinting barefoot along

34

the turnrow, making clover necklaces, and perfecting our cartwheels in the front yard.

Sunset didn’t hinder us. At dusk, we captured lightning bugs and saved them in a mayonnaise jar.

Later, when bedtime unavoidably arrived, we placed the jar on the dresser and watched the bugs glow in our tiny, dark bedroom. Even though Momma poked air holes in the lid of the jar with an ice pick, and we added sustenance in the form of dampened fresh leaves, the lightning bugs met their demise sometime while we dreamed. Looking back, I don’t recall feeling bad about our role in the premature death of so many insects. Summer was for us, and bugs were aplenty.

Sometimes Momma took us to the Memphis Zoo for my July birthday; sometimes, we went just because summer was the best time for communing with animals we didn’t regularly see. The sound of the birds in Overton Park always enthralled me — we never heard such exotic birdcalls at home on the farm. There was Monkey Island, an entire impressive flock of Pink Flamingos, a humongous gorilla whose eyes fixated on us, following us as we strolled by his sad world. For a quarter (or maybe 50 cents), a machine located in the zoo restaurant pressed wax into molds, the result a gorilla figurine souvenir.

I bought one, put it on my nightstand, and often thought about that gorilla stuck inside such a small space, unable to roam free like my sister and I did.

Vacation Bible School provided a summer highlight, magical because it included the fun part of church (Sunday school class) without the boring part (preaching) and because we saw our friends every day that week. Big jugs of Kool-Aid quenched our thirst, Front Porch

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

and there was nothing better than homemade sweets made by the ladies of Brinkley Chapel. We said pledges to the American and Christian flags and the Holy Bible and promised not to hide our light behind a bushel. Ever. During the week of Vacation Bible School, we were our best summer selves.

And then — finally! — the lake was the cherry on top of our summer sundae, the pinnacle of our summer Ferris wheel. With boat-riding and picnics on Sand Island and jumping from the cliffs into the clear, cool waters of Lake Norfork, the lake was the essence of true summer magic.

I saw my first shooting star while sitting on the dock well after sunset, beneath a sky that has never quite compared to the heavens of that night.

I wish I may; I wish I might…

Here’s the funny thing — all these years later, I still find magic in these same summer things — starlight and lightning bugs and boat-riding and cloud-gazing. Now, rather than trapping the lightning bugs, I strive to create a better habitat for them. Yes, I still play with the garden hose only now with the excuse of watering flowers. And I’m not beyond soaking myself on a hot summer day. I wouldn’t turn down a Dixie cup of cherry Kool-Aid either.

Momma continues to take the helm of our summer lake trip. While our family now includes another generation, we visit the same cliffs and coves, roast marshmallows over a fire using twigs we find in the woods, and gaze at the same constellations in the night sky. If I see the rare shooting star, you better believe I’ll make a wish. And at the end of every day, I thank my lucky stars that summer still casts its spell over me. •

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2021

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