Arkansas Agriculture Edition 26 : Page 3

is an ofﬁcial publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation. Arkansas Agriculture is distributed to almost 32,000 farming and ranching households in Arkansas. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Included in membership dues. ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU OFFICERS: President Randy Veach Manila Vice President Rich Hillman Carlisle Secretary/Treasurer Tom Jones Pottsville Executive Vice President Ewell Welch Little Rock DIRECTORS: Richard Armstrong, Ozark Troy Buck, Alpine Jon Carroll, Moro Joe Christian, Jonesboro Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart Mike Freeze, England Bruce Jackson, Lockesburg Tom Jones, Pottsville Johnny Loftin, El Dorado Gene Pharr, Lincoln Rusty Smith, Des Arc Allen Stewart, Mena Mike Sullivan, Burdette Leo Sutterﬁeld, Mountain View EX OFFICIO Sue Billiot, Smithville Janice Marsh, McCrory Kirk Meins, Stuttgart Brian Walker, Horatio Arkansas Agriculture is published quarterly by the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, 10720 Kanis Road, Little Rock, AR 72211. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Arkansas Agriculture , P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203. Publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation reserves the right to accept or reject all advertising requests. Send comments to: arkansasagriculture@arfb.com Created by Publishing Concepts, Inc. Virginia Robertson, Publisher vrobertson@pcipublishing.com 14109 Taylor Loop Road Little Rock, AR 72223 501.221.9986 or 800.561.4686 Arkansas Agriculture Perspective By Randy Veach , President, Arkansas Farm Bureau I certainly don’t have to tell those of you involved with Arkansas agriculture just how signiﬁcant the drought has been this year. And Arkansas isn’t alone in this difﬁcult environment, as the Midwest seems to have been hit just as hard, if not harder, than Arkansas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the weather conditions in Arkansas for April through June were the driest in recorded history for those months. Because of that, I recently wrote a letter to USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack, seeking his support for an emergency request from Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Butch Calhoun. We encouraged Sec. Vilsack to provide assistance in the form of grants from the USDA to the Arkansas Agriculture Department. We indicated that this type of aid was successfully deployed in 2006, and the assistance was distributed to farmers and ranchers in an effective and timely manner. We also thanked the secretary for his quick action in declaring most Arkansas counties a disaster, which triggered some federal relief programs. Those programs will help many farms, though payments from the Non-insured Assistant Program aren’t expected until the end of 2012 or early 2013. We asked Sec. Vilsack to release partial payments this fall as another way to assist our struggling farm families according to USDA direction. The dry weather and extreme temperatures have negatively impacted our livestock sector. Our farm families have been faced with the difﬁcult decision of trying to purchase alternative feed sources or sell a portion of their herds, if not total liquidation. I know Butch Calhoun, our new Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department, stands ready to distribute any federal funds made available to help our farm families. The scope of this natural disaster has left many farms reeling. It’s in difﬁcult times that our mettle is tested. I believe with some support from USDA and others that our farmers and ranchers will emerge on the other side of this drought, ready to continue providing safe and reliable food. * * * This is the ﬁrst opportunity I’ve had to comment on the appointment of Butch Calhoun as the second Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department. We are pleased with the decision made by Gov. Mike Beebe and the Arkansas Agriculture Board. Butch farmed in Des Arc for more than 30 years. He’s been a county judge, a member of the House of Representatives and a successful director of the Department of Rural Services. That’s quite a resume to bring to the table. We believe Butch will be an outstanding successor to Dick Bell, who as our ﬁrst Secretary of Agriculture launched the department and led it professionally and effectively for seven years. We thank him for his service to our state, which followed his lengthy and distinguished career as head of Riceland Foods. Butch has demonstrated a keen understanding of rural Arkansas. He knows how important agriculture is to our state and the critical role agriculture plays in rural communities across Arkansas. We look forward to working with him for the betterment of the men and women of agriculture. Farm Bureau For advertising information contact: Tom Kennedy at 501.221.9986 or 800.561.4686 tkennedy@pcipublishing.com Edition 26 Arkansas Agriculture 3

Farm Bureau Perspective

Randy Veach

I certainly don’t have to tell those of you involved with Arkansas agriculture just how significant the drought has been this year. And Arkansas isn’t alone in this difficult environment, as the Midwest seems to have been hit just as hard, if not harder, than Arkansas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the weather conditions in Arkansas for April through June were the driest in recorded history for those months. Because of that, I recently wrote a letter to USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack, seeking his support for an emergency request from Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Butch Calhoun. We encouraged Sec. Vilsack to provide assistance in the form of grants from the USDA to the Arkansas Agriculture Department. We indicated that this type of aid was successfully deployed in 2006, and the assistance was distributed to farmers and ranchers in an effective and timely manner. We also thanked the secretary for his quick action in declaring most Arkansas counties a disaster, which triggered some federal relief programs. Those programs will help many farms, though payments from the Non-insured Assistant Program aren’t expected until the end of 2012 or early 2013. We asked Sec. Vilsack to release partial payments this fall as another way to assist our struggling farm families according to USDA direction. The dry weather and extreme temperatures have negatively impacted our livestock sector. Our farm families have been faced with the difficult decision of trying to purchase alternative feed sources or sell a portion of their herds, if not total liquidation. I know Butch Calhoun, our new Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department, stands ready to distribute any federal funds made available to help our farm families. The scope of this natural disaster has left many farms reeling. It’s in difficult times that our mettle is tested. I believe with some support from USDA and others that our farmers and ranchers will emerge on the other side of this drought, ready to continue providing safe and reliable food. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to comment on the appointment of Butch Calhoun as the second Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department. We are pleased with the decision made by Gov. Mike Beebe and the Arkansas Agriculture Board. Butch farmed in Des Arc for more than 30 years. He’s been a county judge, a member of the House of Representatives and a successful director of the Department of Rural Services. That’s quite a resume to bring to the table. We believe Butch will be an outstanding successor to Dick Bell, who as our first Secretary of Agriculture launched the department and led it professionally and effectively for seven years. We thank him for his service to our state, which followed his lengthy and distinguished career as head of Riceland Foods. Butch has demonstrated a keen understanding of rural Arkansas. He knows how important agriculture is to our state and the critical role agriculture plays in rural communities across Arkansas. We look forward to working with him for the betterment of the men and women of agriculture.

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