Hello and welcome to Arkansas Week.

I'm Chris Cain coming up a little bit later in the program we're going to focus on a growing animal health concern.

New detections of the New World screw worm in Texas and New Mexico have Arkansas officials urging livestock owners to stay alert.

We'll explain what producers should watch for in just a little bit.

But first, let's examine a new national report that measures how Arkansas children are doing in everything from health and education to economic well-being, and what the latest ranking tells us about where progress is being made and where challenges remain.

Joining us to help put these numbers into perspective is Kaisa Smith Brantley, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

And Kaisa, welcome to the program.

Great to see you.

So good to be here.

Thank you.

Now, before we get deep into the numbers, just kind of lay out the landscape of this report.

What is the Kids Count data book and why should policymakers educators in the community use this as a reference point?

Yeah.

So some years back, the Annie Casey Foundation decided that they really wanted to focus on how well children were doing in their respective states.

They thought that it would be really good, not necessarily to to pit states against one another, but to look and say, what are states doing that are improving the lives of children?

And what are states doing that are maybe not so beneficial for children so that we could learn from one another and really look at what can we do to make the lives of children better in the States.

Really looking at at four big indicators as to how children are doing.

What are those four indicators?

So two are the top are ones.

We probably think of education and health.

And then they really look at family and communities, which is something that we don't often look at.

And then also economic well-being, which unfortunately is something that tends to hit us a little bit harder down in the South and in Arkansas specifically.

Well, let's talk about the overall number.

Arkansas moving up two spots overall right to 43rd.

What does that improvement say about the progress being made.

And is it reflective of a trend that we could continue on.

Well honestly Chris, we we always hope so.

Right.

We always when we when we start moving up, we hope that it is based on the fact that we're getting better and not that other states are getting worse.

Right?

Right.

So and we have seen that in some of the areas in the in this report, we have seen where we've made progress.

A big area is the number of children in poverty.

And I know right now things are tough and people don't feel it.

But we actually improved in our number.

Even though we're still ranked fairly low.

We've decreased our poverty from 22% down to 20%.

So that's a very good thing to see.

We also saw things like our teen pregnancy numbers are improving.

We tend to battle it out with Mississippi at the bottom of the rankings.

This year we were 49th.

Mississippi was 50th.

So people may think, why is it?

How can we say that we've improved in that area?

But in the past ten years we've actually cut our teen pregnancy rate by 50%.

Wow.

So that is really, really significant.

And when we look at the other states that are doing much better, it's because they've just improved faster than we are.

But the Arkansas legislature has really made some moves in the past couple of years to increase education for children, increase access to contraception.

And we're seeing the results of that in the numbers.

All right.

This year's report has an overall score based on five years of data, rather than just it's not just a one year snapshot.

Just to give the viewers watching an idea of how this was compiled.

But what is that reflective on looking at a longer time period like that?

Does that give you more data points to show that this isn't just a one year trend?

This is something that is actually multiyear?

Yeah.

So we we should look that at that.

There's so many things that have happened in the past few years that you don't want to just take one singular snapshot.

You want to look at what's happened over the past several years.

And so this specific report looks back specifically at 2019 because as we know, something big happened in 2020.

Right.

And that that tends to skew the numbers.

And so we like to look at what Arkansas was experiencing in 2019 before the pandemic hit, and then compare that to data that has recently come out so that we can really see what was the impact of the pandemic.

But also, again, you know, comparing numbers in a realistic way.

So we talked about the positive moving up two spots.

Overall, there was one ranking that Arkansas was our lowest ranking and not 50th, but it was health at 48.

So what were the biggest factors that pulled that ranking down and how can we improve on something like that?

So the absolute biggest factor was the number of children that we have that are uninsured, which is really, really surprising.

So, Chris, you may remember several years back when Governor Huckabee was in office, we created the Kids First program.

So special program for children to be insured, different verification eligibility requirements than traditional Medicaid.

And we, you know, cut our the number of children that didn't have insurance and half.

And so, you know, what we've seen is a steady increase in the numbers.

And unfortunately in the past ten years we've actually doubled.

So in 2016 we had 4% of our children were didn't have insurance.

That was a record low.

And now we're at 8%.

And so that was the biggest driver of our numbers.

But unfortunately we also still have things like, you know, our children tend to be a little bit more overweight.

And and equally we have some issues pertaining to low birth rates.

Excuse me, low birth weight, low birth and that again these are things that we've heard in the news.

We've and we've also heard where we're trying to improve those things.

So it just shows us that we still have some some room to grow there.

So I like to call them opportunities to to look at how we can really address those things.

Let's talk about one of the encouraging things you mentioned a moment ago.

The child poverty numbers declined.

Parents having secure employment, obviously helping in that.

What does that tell you about the Arkansas progress or the progress that our state has made to be able to not just make that a one time statistic, but to continue to kind of keep that train moving in the positive direction.

I mean, Chris, you know, I've been looking at this data for probably about 15 to 20 years now, and I can say almost every Arkansas governor in that time has always made it a priority to focus on economic well-being, how to bring jobs to the state, how to improve individuals conditions.

And I think we're seeing that again, it's incremental, but these things don't move overnight.

And as you pointed out, we saw that there are more parents that have secure employment.

That is an area Arkansas has struggled in.

And so it was exciting to see that, like some of the things that we hear on the news about, you know, how to bring jobs in areas, it's showing up in real data numbers and also the number of parents that have a GED or high school degree.

I mean, unfortunately, we struggled in that area and we see more parents seeing that, you know, having a high school degree is critical.

And we and we know that as as jobs change.

So excited to see that some of the economic development conversations that have been happening across the state are materializing in data that that shows that families are getting educated.

Let's talk about education.

What are the rankings say and where do you think?

Because that is a priority right now.

Absolutely.

And this looked back on the last five years but moving forward.

Where do you think we can improve in some of those areas.

Or what is the data say are areas of opportunity like you said that can grow.

So we we definitely still need improvement in the areas of fourth grade reading and eighth grade math.

Unfortunately did not see the increase that we would like to see in that it is a good it should.

I should point out that this is 2024 data.

So sometimes when we're talking about kids count data, especially in Arkansas, folks want to know what is the impact of learns on this since the governor has a concentrated focus on education.

And unfortunately, right now with this data, it's inconclusive because, you know, learns passed in 2023, this data from 2024.

So we don't see the needle moving quite yet.

But we're going to obviously going to continue to look at those numbers and hope to see that improvement in reading and math.

I will say, one of the biggest takeaways from the education section this year was how many children aren't in early childhood education programs.

So that was a little disappointing.

We decreased about 18% and the number of children and you know, I hate to say it's something like or aligned with pre-K, pre-K, Head Start, those types of programs.

And, you know, this is another area where Arkansas, you know, about 10 or 15 years ago, used to make consistent investments in pre-K.

And, you know, we saw more children in that space, more children getting an early start on their education.

And, you know, that's one of the things that we'd like to look back and say, can we start making those investments again?

How much of this report is reflective of the pandemic and some of the data that is now being available?

That wasn't even a couple of years after the pandemic, where we were still sifting through it.

And you're seeing now five years of data from pre-pandemic to now.

What are some of the takeaways after seeing what the effect was ultimately on the education of our young youth or youth?

Yeah.

So I think education is a great place to look when we're looking at the data that we want to keep the pandemic in mind.

It's particularly in the numbers that we just talked about, about three and four year olds not being in early childhood education.

Some of that is that we do have deserts where individuals can't access pre-K programs.

But also the pandemic made individuals sometimes say, maybe I want to keep my child closer to home.

Absolutely.

You know, so it's not necessarily just that those programs aren't available.

Some of it is that families made a decision that they want to educate their children in the house.

They may you know, some people are still leery, right, of their children being in spaces with lots of other children, and we want to take that into account as well.

So one of the things to that I know local lawmakers and leaders and community leaders are going to be looking at with this data is, okay, where are those opportunities moving forward?

So what are some of the biggest growing points that the state can make looking at some of this data, taking some of the positives and continuing with those, and also looking at some of the areas where maybe we slipped nationally and finding ways.

As you've said before, we have previous numbers before this data to be able to look back and say, what programs do we have in place when these numbers were at their all time high?

So where are some of those opportunities for growth moving forward?

So I think, you know, there are areas that are easy when we talk about the number of children that we have uninsured.

The our kids First program hasn't changed.

Children are still eligible sometimes when parents lose their insurance.

And we know that insurance rates are going up.

Sure.

But sometimes when parents lose their insurance, they don't realize that there's an opportunity for their kids.

So a really simple thing that we can lean into with minimal costs is that we can just start educating families, promoting it, letting people know that this program is still available and that their children need to be insured.

And it's and that program is available for families that are struggling.

And then we get to, you know, in early childhood education.

That will take some getting back to the investments that we used to make and making sure that those programs are available for families and the data.

And this also shows us things about maternal health.

And, you know, there's been a lot of conversation around that.

So we hope that we're going to see improvement pertaining to, you know, our the baby birth weights, mother's mortality.

There was some significant movements that were made in the last legislative session.

The governor has healthy moms, healthy babies.

And she actually is launching that nationally that we're seeing.

So there's a focus on maternal health.

And I think that that's going to translate into seeing better outcomes for children when they're born.

And, you know, I think this is an area, though, that we just need to make sure that we're not taking our foot off the gas right on it.

We're making the investments right in all things.

If we're making the investment, we have to keep making the investments.

So, you know, I know from, you know, talking to policymakers a lot, you know, coming and saying, let's spend some more money is not always the easiest conversation, but we've seen where we've made improvements and we can do it again.

Thank you so much.

Kaisa Smith Brantley, executive director of the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, for joining us today.

Kaisa, great to be with you.

We look forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you Chris.

All right.

Stay with us.

Coming up next Arkansas week continues after this break.

Arkansas has not detected any cases of the New World screw worm yet, but recent detections in Texas and New Mexico have prompted new guidance from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.

And the parasitic fly poses a serious threat to livestock, wildlife, pets and, in very rare cases, people making surveillance and early reporting especially important.

Joining us to talk about it a little bit more.

Doctor Emily McDermott, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture.

Wes Ward, thank you so much for joining us, both of you, both in studio and virtually.

Secretary Ward, let's start with you.

First.

Just kind of lay out the current situation, what we're seeing.

Where does Arkansas stand today?

I mentioned no new cases yet, but I know it's something you're closely monitoring.

No, absolutely.

In the New World, screw worms is not new.

We've dealt with it in the US before and eradicated it back in the 60s, but controlled that all the way back down to South America, the Panama Canal Zone area.

But really, over the last couple of years, it's been making its way back up through Mexico.

And we've kind of suspected that this was coming.

And then earlier this month, just about three weeks ago, the US had had its first case.

And so as as of today, as of this morning, we've had 20 total cases in the US.

All of those have been majority in Texas, plus one in New Mexico.

To your point, nothing in Arkansas yet, but it's something really the entire U.S.

agriculture industry is watching very closely and monitoring and finding ways to to try to be helpful.

We're going to send a couple of our inspectors down to Texas to help out, but we're paying very close attention to it.

Watching animal movement, making sure that Arkansas is prepared and ready to respond should there be a case in Arkansas.

But hopefully we can contain it in Texas.

Doctor McDermott, for viewers hearing about this for the first time, what exactly is New World screw worm as Secretary Ward just mentioned?

Not new, so to speak.

But why is this considered such a serious animal threat?

So the New World screw worm is a species of fly that actually requires living animals in order to complete its life cycle.

So the female flies lay their eggs in open wounds on animals, and then the larvae that hatch out of those eggs actually then eat those tissues.

So this can be extremely damaging to animals, as you might imagine, where we see really heavy infestations, those larvae can actually cause secondary damage to organs, sepsis and other infections, and things that can potentially be fatal to animals.

What kind of animals are most at risk here?

Doctor McDermott.

So this fly species can develop.

And essentially any warm blooded mammal livestock are at particular risk because of any sort of wounding that might occur.

Things like castration have historically been really high risk activities.

So things that we're normally doing to livestock animals can potentially open them up to infestation and for pets.

Secretary Ward, that's what you know.

Of course, we have livestock here in the state.

We have farming here in the state, livestock farming.

But I know for most viewers at home, probably thinking just about their own pets outside.

Yeah.

No, I would absolutely agree with her.

You know, there you've got of all all the animals in New Mexico, one of the cases was a dog.

But really, you know, for Arkansas, our beef cattle industry is incredibly important, about an $800 million economic impact.

It's one of our top commodities for agricultural production.

A good year to a very good year for for prices and producers.

We're pretty happy with that.

And so just the cattle cattle industry in particular that we're closely monitoring.

But it's really, really any warm blooded animal.

And doctor McDermott, if you're a livestock producer out there checking each day, what are some of the first signs that they should be looking for for potential infection?

So if you notice any sort of wound on an animal, even something very small can potentially be an area where those flies would be able to take advantage of it.

And so keeping eyes on your animals is going to be really important.

If you do see larvae in any of those wounds.

Producers are likely familiar with fly strike.

This is essentially fly strike but worse.

And so if you see those sorts of symptoms, that would be something that I would be trying to to get a closer look at and potentially trying to get some samples for a veterinarian to be able to take a look at where when you hear the word worm, right.

Most people may think this is something like you think of the traditional worm, not a fly, but also food safety being top of mind, especially if it's affecting livestock.

Is there any risk to supply and the supply chain for something like this?

No, I'm glad that you brought that up.

That would be the one thing that I would want to echo to the public is our food supply system is safe.

This does not have have an impact on the food that they bought a grocery store.

It is really an animal health issue that that there are treatment options for.

But we're going to work very closely to, to monitor and help push back and keep it out of Arkansas and really push it back out of the US.

But food safety, food supply chain, everything anyone buys at a grocery store is going to be a safe product to consume.

We have inspection purposes for that.

So the consumers should feel still very safe in what they buy at the store.

Doctor just went over.

You know what to look for.

Now let's talk about the process.

If someone sees something suspicious, even if it's not, you know, New World screw or if it's suspicious enough, what is the reporting system?

How should this be reported and what should we do about suspected cases?

Yeah.

Doctor Dermot made a great point.

Just being on the lookout for those sort of things.

So we we established at the department an online portal where someone can take a picture, they can upload it, but certainly they can reach out to us at the ag department.

They can reach out to the University of Arkansas, they can reach out to their local veterinarian.

So we want to make sure, like if there's a question, if they see something that looks a little suspicious, we would rather them, you know, report it, ask a question we can check.

We can have a veterinarian look at it and make sure.

And just to make sure that there's no no cases in Arkansas but the online portal, make it make it as easy as possible.

They can upload that on our website and we'll take a look at it.

This is not a scenario where crying wolf is, you know, a negative, right?

Like if it is, I mean, cautious in the better part of valor here, I should say.

Really?

Absolutely.

We encourage people to report if you see something a little even just remotely suspicious and just are curious, send it to us.

We'll take a look at it.

Now, if an animal becomes infected, what treatment options are available today?

Doctor McDermott and this early detection.

How early if someone catches it, are those options better for the long term health of that animal.

Yeah.

So the sooner and infestation is identified the the sooner that animal treated can be treated.

And that's going to be better for them in the long term.

There are a number of products that have received emergency use authorizations for treatment and prevention of severe worm, including some more long term things like Max.

And so there is some information available through the USDA on products that can now be used to treat and prevent screw worm infestations.

And Secretary Ward, I also understand the state is updated its animal entry requirements.

How is that process working and what are the expectations for that.

So so really, if you're if you're in an infestation zone and one of those counties down in southern Texas, there are very specific federal requirements.

But but that basically prohibit any movement outside of that.

If you're in a state that has had a case, Texas, New Mexico, we we require a certificate of veterinary inspection.

A veterinarian used to look at those animals before they come into Arkansas within seven days.

And just a test that they've inspected it.

There's no no detections of New World screw worm.

So we're both from an online reporting piece, but also for movement of animals.

If something's coming from an infected area infested area, we want to take just a little bit closer look just to make sure nothing, nothing's moving.

And that's a partnership with veterinarians and producers to make sure we're protecting the industry.

Doctor McDermott, is there anything other than just watching?

Is there any kind of mitigation steps that producer could take, or anyone in general, to try and avoid or lower their risk of something like this if it were to spread more north?

So really the biggest thing is going to be avoiding injuries.

So potentially timing some of those procedures to occur later in the fall when temperatures are going to be less conducive for screw worm populations.

The one good thing about this pest is that it's really not cold tolerant.

And so once our temperatures start dipping down into the 50s, our risk is really going to drop.

So it's really the summer months where we're going to have high temperatures, wet conditions, high humidity that are going to be the highest risk.

So not only procedures, but also just any type of injury, which maybe previously Secretary Ward would be looked at as well.

That's just part of, you know, that's part of the process, part of having a livestock active livestock farm needs to be treated, maybe with a little more urgency.

The herd health is important.

Just making sure that you're you're monitoring and taking a close look.

If something looks a little off, just making sure that you're playing, paying close attention to it for it to change.

And so I will mention the other piece to you just on that piece on the detection.

USDA did the groundbreaking for a sterile fly facility.

That's that's in the works.

So they anticipate that being done kind of late late next year in 2027.

So there's a lot of effort to eradicate now.

But the sterile facility coming online later next year will be very beneficial and help as well.

So there's there's a lot of work being done to help help mitigate and reduce the impact of it and help push it back.

All right.

Before I let you go, as we say, there's always something right?

Especially in ag researchers confirming earlier this year another issue affecting livestock, the Asian longhorn tick and at least ten Arkansas counties, starting with you, doctor McDermott.

What have we learned about this?

Is it and where are we at right now with trying to mitigate that spread?

Yeah.

So we are conducting surveillance across Arkansas to determine where this tick is.

It was first identified in Arkansas in Benton County in 2018.

And then we found additional populations in Washington County in 2022.

And since then, as you mentioned, we've identified it and a number of other counties.

So we are conducting active surveillance through the university.

But we're also, you know, asking producers, pet owners, anybody else for their help because we can't be everywhere at once.

So looking for for ticks that aren't what we're used to seeing in Arkansas, primarily those Lone Star ticks that have that really distinctive white markings on them.

These Asian longhorn ticks are completely brown.

They don't have any sort of white markings on them.

And so if we are seeing ticks like that, we are asking the public and producers and veterinarians to let us know so that we can track that spread more precisely throughout the state.

About 30s left.

Secretary Ward, anything you want to add to that?

Oh, absolutely.

We'll just completely agree with doctor McDermott.

And that really is just the herd health.

The animal health is so incredibly important.

Just making sure you're monitoring your animals and you're looking for any, any signs of either New World screw worm or ticks and making sure that you're working with us with industry to help help eradicate and push those challenges back.

We are the outdoor state and we enjoy the outdoors.

And with that comes flies and ticks.

Yes.

So please be careful out there.

And thank you so much.

Doctor McDermott and Secretary Award for sharing that information, data and of course everything we can do here in Arkansas to try and mitigate the spread of both of those.

We appreciate your time.

And we also want to say, of course, special thanks to everyone who tunes in every week on this program.

Do want to mention a very important note about this.

We are moving to a new time slot starting next Friday, July 3rd.

We will be airing from 6 p.m.

to 7 p.m., so we look forward to seeing you then.

Thank you so much for watching Arkansas Week.

I'm Chris Kane and we'll see you next time at a new time.