NEWS IN BRIEF

— ’12 drought culled 4% of state cattle

The number of cattle and calves in Arkansas is down 4 percent from 2012, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The state had 1.6 million cattle and calves as of Jan. 1, compared with 1.7 million a year ago, said the report released earlier this month. The number of beef cattle in Arkansas fell 6 percent to 851,000.

Cattle numbers are down because 2012’s drought forced ranchers to cull their herds because hay and forage became sparse and feed prices spiked.

“Because of the drought the grass just simply didn’t grow so producers had to choose; you had to buy hay or sell cows, some producers did both” said Tom Troxel, associate head of animal sciences for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Troxel said beef retail prices likely will increase as a result of the decline.

The number of cattle and calves in the United States fell to about 89.3 million, a 2 percent drop from a year ago, according to the report. Nationwide, beef cattle numbers fell 3 percent to 29.3 million.

  • Jessica Seaman

Van Buren hospital hires 2 hospitalists

Summit Medical Center in Van Buren announced it has hired two hospitalists - doctors who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients.

The new hires, Dr. Kalyan Akkineni and Dr. Mohammed Ur Rehman, are part of a new program which will provide hospitalists coverage at the medical center, according to a release this week from Summit. Akkineni is a board-certified internal medicine physician and Ur Rehman is a board-certified family-practice physician.

Shelly Weilenman, administrator at Summit Medical Center said the pair would also work at Sparks Medical Center in Fort Smith.

The Sparks Health System includes the 492-bed Sparks Regional Medical Center and Summit Medical Center, a 103-bed acute-care hospital. The system serves a 12-county area near Fort Smith, including portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

-John Magsam

State index slips 0.51 to 262.49

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.51 to 262.49 on Thursday.

Ten stocks declined, four advanced and two were unchanged.

Tyson Foods hit a 52-week high of $23.90 during the day before closing at $23.77, up 1.6 percent on more than double its average daily volume.

Axiom lost 2.8 percent in above-average trading.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business, Pages 27 on 02/08/2013

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