Stuttgart to host second Rice Expo

Sherrie Smith, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s plant diagnostic instructor for family and consumer science in Phillips County, mans a booth at the 2011 Rice Expo.
Sherrie Smith, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s plant diagnostic instructor for family and consumer science in Phillips County, mans a booth at the 2011 Rice Expo.

— Whether you grow rice or simply love to eat it, there is a lot to learn about rice at the second annual Arkansas Rice Expo to be held Aug. 3 in Stuttgart. The inaugural event last year attracted more than 1,000 people for presentations, tours and activities for the whole family.

To beat the heat, this year’s Rice Expo will give a new twist to the field day by bringing the outside inside. Virtual farm tours, educational programs, children’s events and a rice cook-off will all be held inside the Grand Prairie Center, 2709 U.S. 165 S. in Stuttgart.

The 63,000-square-foot Grand Prairie Center at Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas at Stuttgart will be the hub of activities, offering something for everyone in air-conditioned comfort. Opened in April 2011, the center has two salons that hold 420 and 210 each, a catering kitchen, outdoor cooking pavilion, four classrooms, four meeting rooms that can seat up to 30 people and a 750-seat auditorium that can expand to 1,500 seats. There is plenty of parking.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Tours of the Rice Research and Extension Center facilities and experiment plots begin at 9 and run through 11:30. Buses will leave from the Grand Prairie Center.

Programs include “Home Gardening in Rice Country” by Janet Carson, 9:15 a.m., Grand Prairie Auditorium. Seminars for rice growers and community development, disaster preparedness, local government services and more will be held throughout the day. A rice recipe contest that is open to the public begins at 11. There will be hands-on 4-H STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities for kids from 8-11 a.m.

In the exhibit hall, there will be 75 exhibits covering everything from the Master Gardener program to edamame (edible soybeans), farmers markets, food preservation, stress management and storm water programs. There will be a climbing wall, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission trailer, archery and BB gun shooting activities and all-terrain vehicle safety. If you have plant problems, take a sample to the plant pathologists and they will diagnose the problem, or take plant samples for identification by Master Gardeners and horticulturists.

Gov. Mike Beebe will speak at 11:15 a.m. and a free catfish lunch by Yoder Ruritan will be served.

The Rice Research and Extension Center’s origins hark back to 1925 when a group of rice farmers recognized the need for research support to solve production-related problems.

The center is the focal point for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s applied rice research and education programs. The work done on the center’s 1,022 acres has received national and international recognition. Arkansas grows about 48 percent of our country’s rice. Rice is the second-highest commodity by value in Arkansas, contributing more than $1 billion to the state’s economy. It is also the top agricultural export.

As more Arkansans move away from farms, the connection to agriculture is often lost. To help everyone understand agricultural production and farming better, field days are held at various UA experiment stations across the state. An agricultural experiment station is a research center where faculty can do applied research on crops to solve problems and find ways to improve crop production.

Arkansas has 12 stations covering rice, fruits and vegetables, cotton, livestock and forestry. Field days showcase ongoing research and educate farmers and the public about programs that can affect them.

For more information, visit aaes.uark.edu/rice/index.html, or call the Rice Research and Extension Center at (870) 673-2661.

Janet Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

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