NEWS IN BRIEF

State on pace to set 4 crop-yield records

Arkansas farmers are expected to set yield records on four crops by the end of the year, according to projections released Friday by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Corn yielded 182 bushels per acre, up from the previous record of 178 bushels per acre, which was set in 2012;

cotton yielded 1,120 pounds per acre, up from 1,112 pounds per acre set in 2004;

rice yielded 168 bushels per acre, up from 166 bushels per acre last year; and soybeans yielded 45 bushels per acre, up from the 43 bushels per acre record set in 2012.

“The best part of today’s Crop Production report was the yields, as four Arkansas crop yield records fell today,” Scott Stiles, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said in a statement.

Stiles said next year’s supply and demand numbers for the state’s major crops are expected to be “bearish” as a result of the high yields and production this year.

  • Jessica Seaman

2 products selected in Wal-Mart contest

From thousands of entries, the grand-prize winners of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Get on the Shelf contest are an Elvis Presley bedding collection and SKRIBS customizable wristbands.

Contestants - inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses - submitted videos of products such as household wares, children’s toys, electronic gadgets and pet products.

The Elvis Presley Home Bedding Collection, which won top honors in the over $40 category, was created by David Bursteen, co-president of Legends Home Bedding in Los Angeles. Retail prices for the licensed bedding for adults using Elvis’ image start at $79.95.

Winning in the under $40 category, SKRIBS customizable wristbands were created by “Tumi” Oredein Jr., a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. The erasable wristbands allow children to express themselves by writing on them with markers or pens. The wristbands are available in packs of three for $8.95.

Both products will be sold on walmart.com. The items will also be considered for sale in Wal-Mart stores.

  • Cyd King

11 stocks gain; index ends week at 310.92

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 4.29 to 310.92 Friday.

Eleven stocks advanced, five declined and one was unchanged.

Arkansas Best climbed 5 percent on average volume.

Home BancShares rose 4.7 percent in average trading.

For the week, 11 stocks rose and six fell.

Volume for the index was 32.8 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 21.7 million shares.

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 33 on 11/09/2013

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