
The Arkansas Farm Bureau announced Monday that Randy Veach and Rich Hillman were re-elected Friday as president and vice president, respectively.
Joe Christian of Jonesboro, a row-crop rice and soybeans farmer, was elected as secretary/treasurer.
Delegates also re-elected six other board members during the final day of the organization’s 82nd annual convention at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
Veach, of Manila, begins a ninth term as president and is the 10th since the Bureau was formed in 1935. He is a third-generation farmer in the Lost Cane community near Manila.
“We’re looking at some very difficult obstacles for our farmers and ranchers.” Veach said in a news release. “One of the major ones is profitability. So we have to continue monitoring what we can do for trade, government regulations and providing a safety net for all of agriculture.”
Hillman is a sixth-generation farmer of rice, soybeans and wheat from Carlisle who will also begin his ninth term.
The other board members re-elected to two-year terms were Terry Dabbs of Stuttgart, Tom Jones of Pottsville, Caleb Plyler of Hope, Rusty Smith of Des Arc, Leo Sutterfield of Mountain View and Dan Wright of Waldron.
According to the news release, delegates also also discussed the bureau’s positions on revising the process the federal government uses to impose new “burdensome” regulations; proposals on the future of farm programs and the 2018 farm bill; revising rules governing risk management and federal crop insurance coverage; legislation that gives the State Plant Board the authority to regulate seed traits; encouraging the state Legislature to provide high-speed broadband to rural areas; improving transportation infrastructure for agricultural products; and urging higher education institutions to incorporate more agriculture and technical training.