Narrative: e. 1.

Arkansas is a major producer of a variety of agronomic crops.  Agriculture is Arkansas’ largest industry, adding around $16 billion to the state’s economy annually. The Natural State’s diverse landscape and climate produce a wide variety of Arkansas agricultural products. Arkansas is a major exporter of rice, soybeans, cotton, poultry and feed grains. There are 49,346 farms statewide and 97 percent of Arkansas’ farms are family-owned. A mere 16 percent of Arkansas’ farms account for a whopping 92 percent of production.

Arkansas Landscape
Agriculture and Forestry use more than 95 percent of Arkansas’ land resources.

• 14.5 million acres of farmland    
• 6.2 million acres of crops
• 8.3 million acres of livestock and hay
• 18.8 million acres of forest

Farming Facts - The Average Arkansas Farm

• Acres: 308
• Farmer’s Age: 57
• Value of Land and Buildings: $658,732
• Value of Equipment: $90,822
• Yearly farm expenses: $124,324
• Yearly farm revenue: $160,270

Aquaculture

• Around 11,000 acres are devoted to catfish production in Arkansas.  
• The value of catfish production peaked at $78.1 million in 2007 with 166 farms.

Beef Cattle

• Arkansas' cattle inventory exceeds 1.7 million head, with 28,292 farms in Arkansas producing cattle.
• Arkansas ranks 12th nationally in beef cows on farms.

Cotton

•  Arkansas ranks 3rd in production, with around 7 percent of the U.S. crop
•  Arkansas has the 4th highest yield per acre behind only California, Arizona, and Missouri.

Horticulture

• Almost $50 million of horticulture products come from nursery and greenhouse products.  
• More than 3 million pounds of tomatoes, the state's top vegetable crop, are produced annually.  
• Peach production, Arkansas' largest fruit crop, annually tops 10 million pounds.

Pork

• More than 1.8 million pigs are produced in Arkansas annually.  
• The total value of Arkansas pork production exceeds $80 million per year.  

Poultry

• Arkansas is 2nd in the nation in broiler production,
• About 2,500 farms in Arkansas produce chickens.

Rice

• Arkansas ranks 1st in the nation in rice production, producing close to 50 percent of the nation’s rice.
• More than 60 percent of the rice produced in Arkansas is exported.

Soybeans

•  Arkansas is the 10th largest soybean producing state
•  Approximately 50 percent of Arkansas’s crop is exported. The remainder is processed into oil and meal.

Wheat

• In Arkansas, wheat is a winter crop that is planted in the fall and harvested in the spring.  It is the green fields you see in January.
• Arkansas produces soft red wheat, which is used in many confectionery products and for blending for bread products.

Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFWs) generally live in rural, isolated areas throughout Arkansas. Approximately 90 percent are of Hispanic/Latino origin; many are primarily monolingual in Spanish; and more than 70 percent are from Mexico. These farmworkers have several obstacles to employment which include transportation, childcare, limited English-speaking abilities and education, and job training. All of these barriers are major reasons for their lack of economic mobility.

Assessing the unique needs of the MSFW population in Arkansas, like many other states, presents several challenges. The MSFW is difficult to identify, share information with or locate. Despite high agricultural activity within the state, it appears a significant number MSFWs pass through Arkansas for seasonal work and continue to other states, looking at Arkansas as merely a “stopover”.

In 2022, we redoubled our efforts to create and strengthen relationships with other State agencies, such as the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. This partnership has already yielded benefits in our ability to identify the needs of our State's agricultural employers. Additionally, we have reached out to non-profit and private organizations such as the Mexican Consulate, Arkansas Human Development Corporation, and the University of Arkansas - Little Rock Extension Service. These efforts are designed to develop a more complete and comprehensive outreach plan into both the employer and farmworker populations in Arkansas. These relationships will provide the basis for reaching out to farmworkers to assess and address their employment, training, and housing needs.

Typical comments from Employers and their permanent, full-time field supervisors suggest that MSFs come here to work, earn their money and move to the next location. They most generally are sending a significant portion of their pay to their families and must bring in a paycheck. They have no time for training for other employment, unless they can no longer work in the fields due to age, health or other factors. Employers, obviously, want to keep these valued workers and would be reluctant to encourage training or employment outside of meeting the agricultural needs they have. Based upon comments from our Agricultural Employers, many of these workers may benefit from ESL or "soft skills" training during their stay in this country.

Other factors such as healthcare, schooling for children, employer requirements, rights, insurance, health & safety information, availability of adequate work clothing and transportation, among others, are needs of the MSFWs. Lack of identification and contact makes it difficult to know how great the needs are. MSFWs are rarely provided transportation to be able to come to town or a career center. Career centers are not available when they are not working. The needed information must be brought to the MSFW in the fields, communities, or frequented businesses/services they utilize.