Arkansas College Student Elected National President Of FFA

The international market for Arkansas rice producers is teeming with possibilities, an industry official told the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board Thursday.

Chuck Wilson, director of Arkansas Field Services for the USA Rice Foundation, said Mexico figures to be the number one market in the world in the next few years due to a young population, inability to grow rice due to water issues as well as good export and trade in the region. Wilson said the dropping of a tariff from Mexico in 2008 helped open the market, with rice going into the country.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and a delegation of nearly 50 Arkansas business leaders and state officials are in Cuba for a series of meetings with government officials.

The communist island nation and its 11 million residents have for years been eyed as an untapped marketplace for Arkansas products, especially agriculture. With diplomatic relations being restored between the U.S. and Cuba, Hutchinson said this was an ideal time to begin building a relationship. The visit is the first by an American governor since the U.S. re-opened its embassy there in July.

Nearly half of Arkansas is in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The drought is most concentrated in the southern part of the state. Consequently, 51 of the 75 counties in Arkansas have instituted burn bans. Chris Buonanno, a science and operations officer with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said the worst conditions are concentrated near the state's border with Louisiana.