Cong. Marion Berry death, U.S. Steel sale top NEA top stories in 2023

The death of a longtime congressman, drought, foreign land ownership, the sale of U.S. Steel and others made for the top news headlines in Northeast Arkansas during 2023.

Agriculture
Drought, overall increased row crop production, foreign ownership of agriculture lands and a controversial decision involving the Waters of the United States or WOTUS were among the hot topics impacting Northeast Arkansas’ agriculture in 2023.

For a second consecutive year, severe, extreme and exceptional drought afflicted many areas along the Mississippi River with more than 65% of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas having some form of drought in September.

On a positive note, the drier weather led to a relatively smooth harvest. But the lack of rain also dried the Mississippi River to record lows that impacted barge traffic moving ag goods up and down the river.

Farmers planted about 3 million soybean acres in 2023, and they are expected to produce a state record 53 bushels per acre. Peanuts and poultry production were also up during the year as compared to 2022. Corn acres topped 830,000 more than a 135,000 acre increase from the year before.

Foreign ownership of U.S. farmland has been an emerging issue over the last few years, thanks in part to Chinese purchases of agricultural lands near U.S. military bases in Texas and North Dakota.

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia enacted or amended in 2023 laws restricting certain foreign investments in land in their states. Arkansas became the first state to take action on such a law, telling a Chinese government owned company, Syngenta, that it had to divest itself of land it owned in Craighead County.

A-State’s System President Chuck Welch resigns to take national post
Arkansas State University System President Chuck Welch announced in November that he was resigning to take a different job. Welch, who had been with A-State since 2010, left to become the president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C. He was named president emeritus at A-State. A nationwide search is now underway to find his replacement.

U.S. Steel acquired in $14 billion deal
U.S. Steel, which owns Big River Steel and other operations in Northeast Arkansas, is being acquired by Tokyo-based Nippon Steel Corp. in a $14.1 billion deal, the companies announced Monday (Dec. 18).

Nippon will pay $55 per share in an all-cash transaction, a 40% premium, for U.S. Steel. The companies said in a joint press release that U.S. Steel will retain its iconic name and headquarters in Pittsburgh.

Mississippi County in Northeast Arkansas is the largest steel-producing county in the U.S. It is home to the former Big River Steel project, owned by U.S. Steel. It is also the site of a proposed $3 billion U.S. Steel facility that is expected to come online in 2024.

Jonesboro Sportsplex
Civic and business leaders spent 2023 contemplating where and how to build a proposed 200,000 square-foot sports complex. The estimate for the building and equipment for the proposed Jonesboro Sportsplex is $77.2 million, according to Erik Kocher with Hastings-Chivetta Architects.

This includes the main structure with 12 basketball courts (24 volleyball and 36 pickleball) and the natatorium. The natatorium plan has a 50-meter pool, a competition diving pool, and a warm-up pool. The natatorium features seating for 1,245 spectators.

Hastings-Chivetta is partnering with Crafton Tull on the Sports Complex project. Work is slated to begin in 2024.

Former U.S. Rep. Marion Berry died
Former U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, who began his political career as a Gillett city alderman and would serve seven terms in Congress, died in May. He was 80.

Berry was born Aug. 27, 1942, in Stuttgart, graduated from DeWitt High School and received a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1965 from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

In 1996, he defeated Republican Warren Dupwe with just under 53% of the vote to win his first term in Congress. He ran unopposed in 2008 for his seventh and final House term.

Arkansas State University to start veterinary school
Arkansas State University intends to start a College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and now it plans to undergo the endeavor without the help of any outside entity. Once it’s completed, the A-State veterinary program would be the second in the state.

Batesville-based Lyon College is in the process of forming its own vet training program in Little Rock, the school announced in May of 2022. The new college will cost about $15 million to start. A specific timeline of when the college will become accredited and when it will start training students was not released.