August 2025 Arkansas Ag Research Report
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Forestry research shows growth is outpacing removals
- Two new faculty members set to strengthen research in soil science, wastewater and nutrient management
- Research projects offer new insights to help Arkansas’ two top agricultural commodities: poultry and soybeans
- Upcoming Symposia: AI in Agriculture on Sept. 15 and Animal Welfare from the Veterinary Perspective on Oct. 2
Big News
Risk and opportunity: Arkansas’ forest growth outpacing timber harvest
Arkansas’ tree growth is outpacing removals, but the abundance doesn’t just signal a rich timber supply. It also increases the risks for disease, pests and wildfires. A trio of researchers with the Arkansas Forest Resources Center took a deeper look at the gap and the factors behind it.
Striking a balance between forest growth and removals is key to keeping forests sustainable, according to Sagar Godar Chhetri, assistant professor of forest economics with the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
The Journal of Forestry published their findings, which Chhetri said can help forest managers identify areas where increased harvesting is ecologically beneficial.
“The data on growth-to-drain can help determine locations for economic development efforts by identifying regions where the supply of timber is more than adequate for additional timber harvesting and manufacturing of wood products,” said Matthew Pelkki, a professor and economist with the Arkansas Forest Resources Center and co-author of the study.
Forestry researchers show in a new study that Arkansas’ tree growth is outpacing removals, which can increase risks for disease, pests and wildfires. (University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture photo by Traci Rushing)
The Soybean Genomics Executive Committee recently presented its Mary Coker Joslin Early Career Award to Caio Vieira, an assistant professor of soybean breeding with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
“This award means a lot, not just to me, but to our whole team,” Vieira said. “It is confirmation that the work we are conducting in Arkansas is relevant to the broader soybean industry. I am fortunate to be part of this community, which has always welcomed and supported me through undergrad, grad school and now as a faculty member.”
Caio Vieira, assistant professor of soybean breeding, joined the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and Bumpers College in 2023 and leads the experiment station’s soybean breeding efforts.
New Faces
Mark McDonald is a new assistant professor in the crop, soil and environmental sciences department.
Soil microbiologist Mark McDonald recently joined the crop, soil and environmental sciences department as an assistant professor and researcher focused on improving soil health and crop growth by investigating plant-microbe relationships.
“If we can understand that relationship better, we can manage our production better to make it easier on the plant and potentially reduce fertilizer costs,” McDonald said. “At the end of the day, I want to be able to go to a field day and tell farmers the biology side of things that could help or hurt plant growth.”
As an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee, McDonald originally planned to attend medical school, but his path took a turn when he spent time working in an aquatic microbiology lab his sophomore year and then two summers working at a research farm.
As a new assistant professor and extension specialist in the department of biological and agricultural engineering, Yiting Xiao seeks to strengthen Arkansas’ wastewater and nutrient management.
Xiao’s work focuses on sustainable nutrient management and upcycling agricultural waste. She works with advanced oxidation and biological processes, such as anaerobic digestion, to treat nutrient-rich wastewater and remove persistent pollutants.
“I’m thrilled to return to Arkansas and work alongside our stakeholders to apply sustainable, green engineering solutions that both protect the environment and boost farm profitability. I can’t wait to see these technologies make a real difference on the ground,” said Xaio, a University of Arkansas alumna.
Yiting Xiao recently joined the biological and agricultural engineering department and is based at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville campus. (U of A System photo)
Research Spotlights
Calcium tests in poultry offer chance for improved feed efficiency
One percentage point of feed conversion loss in large-scale poultry production can cause millions in lost revenue, so even small improvements — like fine-tuning a single nutrient in feed — can make a big difference.
A new study by Ben Parsons, assistant professor of poultry nutrition, and colleagues in the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science offers guidance for poultry nutritionists to measure and optimize calcium bioavailability in poultry feed. Parsons and poultry science Ph.D. student Rebekah Drysdale published a study in the journal Poultry Science showing that a newer, more rapid digestibility test can be used to assess calcium availability in feedstuffs.
With varying levels of calcium digestibility in different sources of limestone, Parsons said both methods of testing can help poultry producers screen calcium sources that are causing problems and find sources with a “sweet spot” of digestibility based on solubility rates.
Ben Parsons, left, Rebekah Drysdale and Seth Hufford have investigated calcium bioavailability in poultry. Parsons is an assistant professor of poultry nutrition, Drysdale is a poultry science Ph.D. student, and Hufford is a program technician.
Study: Soybeans seem to inherit the bad memories of their parents
In soybeans — one of the world’s most important crops — researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station have found the first evidence that drought and insect herbivory can create lasting, transgenerational effects. These stressors not only affect the parent plants but alter the traits and defenses of their offspring.
Rupesh Kariyat, associate professor of crop entomology in the entomology and plant pathology department, and doctoral students Manish Gautam and Insha Shafi have looked at how the caterpillars of two insects — soybean looper and fall armyworm — affect soybean plants in a variety of situations, including drought.
Over the past year, they have published four scientific papers with their results, which Kariyat said demonstrates some of the positive and negative impacts the stressors have on a plant’s progeny and could be used to develop more resilient crops in the same season.
A soybean looper caterpillar crawls under the stem of a soybean plant as part of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station research on the impacts of drought-stress and herbivory. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Manish Gautam)
Watch
Cultivating More Than Crops: Center for Arkansas Farms & Food
The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food farm school ran a farm stand this summer, giving CAFF students a chance to talk with customers, make sales, and showcase what makes their products unique.
CAFF supports local food entrepreneurs and increases small farm viability through experiential learning. It is part of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture.
Hot off the Press
B.R. Wells Arkansas Rice Research Studies 2024
Arkansas is the leading producer of rice in the United States, representing approximately 50% of all U.S. rice production each year. This edition of the B.R. Wells Arkansas Rice Research Studies publication presents the results of breeding, agronomic, pest management, and processing studies for this important crop. Download the report to read the results of these rice research studies.
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