Ben Dickey to host Arkansas PBS monthly agricultural project ‘The Growing Season’

“Arkansans love our digital storytelling on all of the platforms the place they watch, and have cherished our broadcast content material for greater than 50 years. Now we’re sharing these vital Arkansas tales in a complete new method via this new podcast. Particular due to the Arkansas Division of Agriculture for being a powerful companion in supporting this content material,” mentioned Arkansas PBS CEO Courtney Pledger.

The journey begins in March when the farmers get to work within the fields, barns and greenhouses, planning for the upcoming yr. Within the spring, the season takes form because the soil wakes up. The difficulties of the season will current themselves – damaged tools, underperforming crops, heavy loans and different stressors.

Because the summer time warmth units in, the work of the Arkansas farmer solely will get harder. The easy issues of springtime have grown into full-on worries and shortcomings for the season, however the work doesn’t let up. For a troubled farmer, summer time months are all about protecting their head above water.

The top of summer time means harvest – one remaining exhausting push to the end line. Weary and exhausted, it’s solely now that the farmer will get a transparent understanding of how their rising difficulties will affect their day-to-day well-being.

Winter means placing every part away and planning to keep away from the pitfalls of the earlier yr. A farmer should without delay at all times be wanting ahead to the expectations of the subsequent season and looking out again on the issues of the final.

“The Rising Season” is hosted by Ben Dickey. Born in Arkansas in 1977, Dickey is a singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He has launched two solo albums, “Horny Birds and Saltwater Classics” and “A Glimmer on the Outskirts.” Nevertheless, Dickey is greatest recognized for his position in “Blaze,” the 2018 movie the place he performed the position of Blaze Foley, one other musician from Arkansas. Dickey’s grandparents farmed in Arkansas for a few years, and he’s excited to lend his voice to telling their tales.

Farmers featured within the podcast embody:

• Darrin Davis – 2022 shall be Darrin Davis’ thirty second season of farming. A lifetime row crop farmer and present mayor of his hometown of Lake View, Arkansas, Davis grew up watching his father and grandfather work laborious to discover a place on the land. He’s decided to achieve success, to present his kids and grandchildren some place on this world to name their very own.
• Larry Galligan – After rising up on his mother and father’ ranch and sale barn in Clinton, Arkansas, Larry Galligan went on to earn a level in entomology and labored for a number of years on the College of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Nevertheless, in 2020, Larry took his West Fork farming operation, Riverside Specialty Farms, full time and has been rising natural greens and greens ever since.
• Ruthie and Grace Pepler – Dogwood Hills Visitor Farm permits visitors from all around the nation to participate within the chores and experiences of small farm life. Ruthie and Grace Pepler take as a lot pleasure in opening the eyes of their guests as they do in taking good care of their animals and household simply outdoors Marshall, Arkansas, close to the Buffalo River.
• Will and Rachel Norton – Will Norton grew up elevating cattle proper beside his father. He even purchased his first few cows from his dad at simply 13. Now, Will has a household of his personal, a number of extra cows and some extra acres – however he’s glad to be persevering with the household enterprise. Even in these unsure occasions.
• Donna Kilpatrick – With over 25 years of expertise in agriculture, Donna Kilpatrick focuses on pasture-based livestock manufacturing, ecosystem restoration and land stewardship. She leads Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. She holds a bachelor’s diploma in sustainable agriculture and literature from Warren Wilson Faculty in Asheville, NC, the place she labored on the school farm, and a grasp’s diploma in nonprofit administration from The New College in New York, NY. Donna lives at Heifer Ranch together with her spouse Liz and corgi pet Austin, who she is elevating to be a skilled cattle canine.
• John Michael and Rachel Bearden – This household operation simply outdoors of Friendship, Arkansas, is farming cattle, hay, quarter horses, sheep, and timber. They’re carrying on the household farming legacy, as Rachel has grow to be the sixth technology to lift cattle alongside their Ouachita River farm. John Michael, a former agriculture teacher, manages the farm full time. As a county extension agent, Rachel loves that she just isn’t solely making her farm higher and extra worthwhile, however she can also be serving to different farmers throughout the state do the identical!

Podcast producers for the collection embody:

• Antoinette Grajeda, who served as Arkansas Soul’s inaugural editor-in-chief and helped produce “Ozarks at Giant” at KUAF.
• Hilary Trudell of The Yarn, an initiative that amplifies Arkansas voices and builds neighborhood via storytelling.
• Omaya Jones, who information and edits for The Yarn.
• Andy Vaught, Hendrix Murphy Visiting Fellow in Theatre Arts at Hendrix Faculty.
• Jordan Hickey, an award-winning, trilingual author and editor primarily based in Little Rock.

“Agriculture is an inherently hectic occupation that always requires people to work lengthy hours and navigate via quite a few elements which might be past their management. The Arkansas Division of Agriculture is proud to companion with Arkansas PBS to inform the story of people that present the meals, fiber, gas, and shelter that all of us rely on each single day and what they do to maintain our state’s largest trade profitable into the longer term,” mentioned Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward.

“The Rising Season” is funded via a Farm and Ranch Stress Help Community grant offered by the US Division of Agriculture Nationwide Institute of Meals and Agriculture (USDA NIFA), and administered by the Arkansas Division of Agriculture.