Randy Veach
Randy Veach is a third-generation farmer from the Lost Cane community (Mississippi County), where he grows cotton, rice, soybeans, wheat and corn on ground cleared by his grandfather and father. In addition to heading the state Farm Bureau, Veach is a board member of the American Farm Bureau.
Veach, 64, is in his sixth term as president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm advocacy organization and is the bureau’s 10th president since its founding in 1935.
What is the overall condition of the Arkansas agriculture industry?
It’s strong. Arkansas farmers and ranchers continue to provide the abundant, affordable, safe supply of food, fiber and shelter that we have all become accustomed to.
Is any particular component significantly outperforming or underperforming?
Our dairy industry. Not long ago, we had 400 dairies in the state. Now, it is in the 80s. Milk prices are not at a level that they can sustain rising input costs that they are struggling with. … Aquaculture has really decreased.
What factors are at play with the decline in aquaculture?
Importing of fish that is not of nearly the quality that our aquaculture industry raises. It’s kind of puzzling to us, to a lot of ranchers and farmers, that we have people pushing us from one side because they don’t think we are treating our animals correctly and they are not comfortable with genetically enhanced crops and things like that, but on the other side, they are willing to accept a very substandard product that is coming from another nation where we have no clue what pesticides or how those animals or fish or crops were raised.
Leaders in some regions of the world object to genetically engineered crops. How does that perspective affect U.S. agriculture trade?
I use the term “genetically enhanced crops” because that’s exactly what they are. There has never been anyone get sick from genetically enhanced crops. That’s a big issue. There is no scientific basis behind it at all. If we are going to be as productive as we need to be — for ourselves and for the world — we need to have genetically enhanced crops, or we are not going to be able to feed all the people.
How responsive have producers been to environmental concerns?
We have the safest food supply of any nation in the world. We are the benchmark for the world. The best caretakers of their animals and the land are those who make their living off it every day. If we don’t take care of it, we are going broke. No other industry in the United States has done more to reduce their carbon footprint than agriculture.
Regarding the new Farm Bill’s end to direct payments to Arkansas producers, how significant could that revenue loss be?
That’s $244 million annually. It’s going to be difficult. This is a pretty big transition for our farmers and ranchers out there, especially those who are raising row crops. … Besides the taxes farmers and ranchers would pay on that amount, we in agriculture have a tendency to turn that money over. We are going to upgrade equipment, and we are going to build another chicken house, and we are going to turn that money over, and that money goes through several hands.
What provisions of the Farm Bill will help Arkansas producers?
Any Farm Bill that was discussed along the way, we never had an option to keep the direct payments. There is nothing in this Farm Bill now that replaces that. There are some provisions of crop insurance that we can utilize but not that much. We mitigate our biggest risk, which is drought, with irrigation, predominantly. Once we do that, the biggest risk to production is gone.
Arkansas producers export much of their crops and protein. Is it possible to overstate the importance of overseas markets?
No. We export about 90 percent of our cotton production. We ship it over to China. They spin it and make it into a shirt and send it back to us. The rice industry probably runs up to 70 percent of the crop is exported. Our beef industry is really important for exports, as is the poultry industry. Tyson Foods has a plant in Dardanelle that is strictly dedicated to Japan.
In government-to-government trade negotiations, how close to the head of the table are the agriculture representatives?
Agriculture is the foundation of all economies around the world. If you can’t raise the food for your population, you have to buy it. … When it comes to agriculture, that is the one they are going to use to try to get what they want for other industries.
(Read more from the latest digital issue of Arkansas AgBusiness.)
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