Newton County Cooperative Extension (Arkansas)

04/10/2026

Newton County had some smiley faces to welcome in the poultry chain this week!!! 460 chicks were distributed as 4-H projects to 26 4-H members. They will show their project birds at the Newton County Fair.

03/30/2026

It time to start getting rolling on show animal projects. If you have any questions please contact the Newton County Extension Service at 870-446-2240

thanks

Adam

03/16/2026

03/16/2026

Fertilizer Impacts on Warm-Season Hay Budgets
James Mitchell and Ryan Loy, University of Arkansas
The United States-Israel conflict with Iran that began on Saturday, February 28, comes at a challenging time for U.S. agriculture, with implications for farm input markets ahead of spring planting and cool- and warm-season forage production. Now in its third week at the time of this writing, the conflict has already disrupted energy markets and shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. More than 20% of global oil trade moves through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran is a major exporter of urea fertilizer. These markets are global, and supply shocks of this scale can quickly affect the prices producers pay for key input such as fuel and fertilizer.

2026 Warm-Season Hay Budgets
The table below presents a 2026 planning budget for warm-season hay production in Arkansas, based on data from the 2025 Arkansas Hay Verification Program. Each item in the budget reflects the per-acre cost for individual inputs and the per-acre revenue from hay sales, assuming the 2025 national average hay price.

Urea costs rise from $112 per acre in the baseline to $123, $147, and $168 per acre when prices increase to $704, $832, and $960 per ton, respectively. Total operating costs increase from $397.97 per acre in the baseline to $408.47, $432.97, and $453.97 per acre under the higher price scenarios. As a result, returns above operating costs fall from $49.15 per acre in the baseline to $38.65, $14.15, and -$6.85 per acre as urea prices increase.

Most row crop producers likely already booked their inputs before the Iran war began. Hay producers do not forward contract fertilizer and instead purchase it on an as-needed basis. Cool-season forage producers were already applying fertilizer, but if higher prices persist into the fall, they could face significantly higher costs. For warm-season forage producers, it is recommended to contact your input supplier to discuss fertilizer pricing options.

Note the analysis only considers changes to fertilizer prices. The Iran war impacts fuel and fertilizer prices. For example, scenarios such as a 50% increase in fuel and 30% increase in fertilizer should be considered in hay budgets.

03/11/2026

Spray Class

02/23/2026

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02/10/2026

Three Strategies to Improve Profitability for Small Cow-calf Operations
Kenny Burdine, University of Kentucky

Running a small cow calf operation can be rewarding, but it is not without challenges. Larger farms spread their costs over more cows, making it harder for smaller herds to compete. There also tend to be scale efficiencies related to labor, input purchases and other expenses that make larger operations more economically efficient. But smaller producers can be profitable, and this article focuses on three strategies small operations should consider to improve their profitability.

Keep Overhead Costs in Check
Cow-calf operations are capital intensive by nature, so I chose to use the words “in check”, rather than something more specific. But the reality is that an operation running 30-40 cows can’t have the same overhead structure as one running several hundred. This sounds obvious but I often see new cow-calf operations that are badly overcapitalized from the start. Smaller operations should focus on being lean with respect to equipment, facilities, and other fixed costs. In a lot of cases, this means limiting capital investment and ensuring that the scale of equipment is proportional to the scale of the operation. However, performing custom work with owned equipment is another way to spread that capital investment over more hours of use and add a second income stream. Regardless of what approach is taken, small cow-calf operations must be aware that disproportionately large overhead cost structures can be a major drain on profitability.

Outsource Strategically to Save Time and Money
A small cow-calf operation does not have to do everything themselves and may be best served by outsourcing some farm operations. The first area that comes to mind is hay production. It may be more economical for a small cow-calf operation to purchase hay, rather than own hay equipment and devote land and time resources to producing it themselves. In some areas, hay is not easy to source and may require significant effort. But by spending time developing relationships with hay producers and planning for winter feeding needs well in advance, the operation may be able to avoid significant hay production expenses.

Outsourcing other farm operations may also be worth consideration. For example, it may be easier to hire someone to transport cattle to market, rather than owning and maintaining hauling equipment that isn’t used very often. Heifer development is another area than can be a bit more challenging for small operations. It may make sense for a small operation to purchase a few bred heifers each year and focus on terminal production, rather than developing a small number of heifers on their own.

Outsourcing is typically justified on the basis of limiting investment (ie: avoiding over-capitalization) or limiting variable expenses. But it also frees up another very valuable resource – time. Most small cow-calf operators have off-farm employment or other significant off-farm commitments. By outsourcing some farm operations, additional time becomes available and can be devoted to the elements of the operation the farmer chooses to focus on.

Explore Value-added Marketing Opportunities
While the first two considerations were largely focused on cost control, this one is focused on the revenue side of the profit equation. Since production costs tend to be higher for smaller operations, it is even more imperative that they look for ways to add value to the cattle they sell. Since they are likely to sell cattle in smaller groups, they have an even greater incentive to consider co-mingled / value-added sales where they can potentially get price premiums associated with larger lot sizes and health programs. They also have more incentive to consider direct-to-consumer markets such as freezer beef, farmers’ markets, etc. While everyone will be comfortable adding value in their own way, the point is that smaller operations need to focus on ways to increase profit per head, since they have a smaller number of head from which to profit.

Small cow-calf operations should recognize that they are unlikely to successfully compete with large operations on scale and cost efficiency. For that reason, they need to approach their operations differently and utilize the unique advantages that come with being lean and flexible. By carefully managing their overhead cost structures and outsourcing operations that can be done more efficiently by other operations, they have the potential to see significant cost benefits. And by exploring value-added marketing opportunities, they may be able to capture revenue benefits as well.

02/06/2026

Livestock Indemnity Program as Disaster Assistance
James Mitchell, University of Arkansas

This week, many producers are taking inventory of the damages from the January 23-27 winter storm. In Arkansas, for example, these losses include a large number of poultry houses (with and without flocks in them), equipment, farm buildings, livestock, and horticulture. USDA has created programs to assist livestock producers following scenarios such as the one experienced last week. One of those programs is the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), which provides disaster assistance to eligible livestock producers and growers for deaths over normal mortality rates.

LIP eligibility depends on the occurrence of an eligible loss condition, proving loss in excess of normal mortality was directly caused by an eligible loss condition, ownership, and livestock type. The occurrence of an eligible cause of loss/death is not sufficient for eligibility. The occurrence of last week’s storm is not enough to be eligible for LIP. The livestock owner must provide evidence that last week’s storm directly caused the excess loss. The livestock producer must have legally owned the livestock on the day the loss/death from eligible cause occurred. Eligible losses caused by an eligible loss condition include injury and death over a normal mortality rate. All this crucially depends on livestock producers maintaining and producing detailed documentation to the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Note, the above discussion includes injury as an eligible loss. Excess death is not the only damage that resulted from last week’s storm. Cattle might have lasting physical signs of last week’s events, which could cause cattle to receive discounts at marketing. Producers must provide documentation that livestock were sold at a reduced price due to an eligible cause of loss.

LIP payments are based on a national average fair market value. Given the strength of cattle prices this year, the market value used to calculate payments is relatively higher than in previous years. The LIP payment rate is 75 percent of this average market value (this is by design). For example, the 75% payment rate for a mature beef cow was $919.47 in 2021 and $1,810.09 in 2025.

After adjusting for normal mortality, LIP payments for excess livestock deaths are calculated by multiplying the national LIP payment rate for that livestock category by the number of eligible livestock in that category times the ownership share. For example, suppose a producer owns 40 beef cows at the beginning of last week's storm, and 4 are lost. Assuming 2 percent normal mortality, the number of cattle eligible for payment is 4 minus (40 times 2%) or 3 head (FSA rounds to the nearest whole animal). This producer's indemnity payment is 3 times $1,810.09 or $5,430.27 (see table). These calculations will vary by livestock type, type-specific mortality rate, and whether the loss was a death or injury, among other factors.

Contact your local Farm Service Agency office to apply for LIP. Eligible producers must file a notice of loss and application of payment within a defined time frame. For more details including deadlines and eligibility, see the USDA-FAS website.

Note: If you plan to republish or redistribute this article, please do so in its entirety, including the correct title, authorship, and author affiliation.

02/06/2026

Upcoming Beef Meeting in Ozark if you guys are interested let me know I can haul a few people

thanks

Adam