LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation (ABWEF) board of directors voted to provide a cash rebate of $.75 per acre to Arkansas cotton farmers for cotton acreage reported in 2021 under Arkansas’s boll weevil eradication program. A total of $318,000 will be returned to cotton farmers by the end of April.
The ABWEF is an Arkansas nonprofit corporation designated to operate the Arkansas boll weevil eradication program. The ABWEF and the boll weevil eradication operations are overseen by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industry Division.
“The Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation has remained dedicated to the best interests of Arkansas cotton growers throughout the successful operation of the boll weevil eradication program,” said Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. “Providing rebates to producers while also maintaining reserves to ensure sustainability of the program is a testament to good management and a successful partnership on behalf of Arkansas’s agricultural industry.”
The ABWEF borrowed millions of dollars over the years from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), as did other southern states and programs, to finance the boll weevil eradication program that began in 1997. The boll weevil pest was eradicated from Arkansas in 2006. In 2015, the ABWEF successfully paid off the loan amount three years early. Since 2018, the ABWEF has provided a cash rebate to growers each year.
Learn more about the history of boll weevil eradication across cotton producing states and the ABWEF at abwep.org. With questions about the boll weevil rebate, contact Regina Coleman at 870-692-6368 or rcoleman@abwep.org.
