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Annual Meeting Focused on Policy, Economics, and Leadership Changes

On December 12-13, the board of directors of the Ag Council of Arkansas joined in Little Rock to hold its annual meeting. As part of the meeting, the board set the stage for the coming year with updates in leadership, policy, and financial planning. In addition, the board heard from a range of guest speakers who focused on economic challenges facing the agriculture industry and policy needs of our members.

The board of directors elected Joe Mencer of Lake Village to serve as President. He replaces Nathan Reed of Marianna, whose two year term expired. The board elected Jeff Rutledge of Newport and Pace Hindsley of Marvell to serve as Vice President. Nathan Reed was elected to serve as Treasurer following the retirement of Rick Bransford of Lonoke. The board elected the following board members to the Executive Committee: Joe Mencer, President; Jeff Rutledge, Vice President; Pace Hindsley, Vice President; Nathan Reed, Treasurer; John King, Past President; Matt Hyneman, Past President; West Higginbothom, Past President; David Wallace, Jr., Crawfordsville; Jason Felton, Marianna; Jesse Flye, Jonesboro; Sam Whitaker, Monticello.

The board also welcomed newly elected board members, including Heath Adkisson, Osceola; Jay Coker, Stuttgart; Drew Flowers, Forrest City; Andrew Gill, McGehee; Wade Hill, Dumas; Matt Smith, Blytheville; Ryan Sullivan, Burdette; David Wildy, Manila; and Eric Vaught, Hickory Ridge.

As part of the business session, the board adopted an updated resolutions document for the new year. The resolutions provide guideposts for the organization in its advocacy efforts in Little Rock and Washington, D.C. Advocacy is the primary purpose of this organization as we intend to represent the interests of our members to state and federal policy makers.

Following the business session, members and guests joined for a welcome reception sponsored by Farm Credit Associations of Arkansas, which allowed for networking and an opportunity to share experiences from the year and prospects of a new year. After the reception, many attendees joined the presidents' dinner, in which we honor our past leaders and recognize the outgoing and incoming presidents.

The next morning, members and guests joined for a general session, which featured guest speakers who covered a range of topics of importance to our members. Guest speakers included Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward; Harrison Pittman of the National Ag Law Center; Dr. Ryan Loy and Dr. Hunter Biram, economists with the University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture; and Alan Grafton with Pinion Global.

Secretary Ward provided an update on his activities at the Department of Agriculture and outlined his role as President of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). As part of his role, Arkansas will play host to the NASDA Annual Meeting in Rogers, Arkansas, this September.

Harrison Pittman provided an overview of recent opinions issued by the Supreme Court of the United States, which are expected to impact laws and regulations impacting our members. In addition, he highlighted expected initiatives of the incoming Trump Administration as it relates to laws and regulations. His presentation may be viewed here: NALC Presentation

Dr. Ryan Loy and Dr. Hunter Biram discussed geopolitical factors impacting crop markets and farmers. They also provided an overview of the current economic challenges facing farmers and policy considerations related to economic support for farmers. Their presentations can be viewed here: Loy Presentation | Biram Presentation

Alan Grafton, with Pinion Global provided an overview of their company's various services available to farmer clients. He was joined by Brian Kuehl of Pinion via webinar who provided a governmental affairs perspective on the anticipated policy environment in Washington for the coming year. Their presentations can be viewed here: Graftan Presentation | Kuehl Presentation

Following the General Session, attendees joined for a luncheon sponsored by AGUP-Arkansas Ag. Following lunch, the meeting adjourned.

The Ag Council would like to express thanks to all the annual meeting sponsors, including Farm Credit Associations of Arkansas; AgComp SIF; AGUP-Arkansas Ag; Bayer; Greenpoint Ag; Greenway; Nutrien; Pinion Global; Simmons Bank; Silveus Insurance; StoneX; and Syngenta.