The Importance of Arkansas' Agricultural Community

The Importance of Arkansas' Agricultural Community
Rep. Boozman's Column for the Week of August 16, 2004

Washington, Aug 16 - For the latter part of last week, I toured several agricultural facilities in the Third Congressional District of Arkansas. We were blessed with beautiful Fall-like weather over the course of the two and a half days I spent meeting with local agricultural leaders. The visits reinforced the importance of the industry in our communities and gave me feedback on the needs of the men and women who grow crops and raise livestock in the Third District of Arkansas.

Arkansas' agricultural industry's annual income is over $4.8 million. 47,500 farms in Arkansas sit on 14.5 million acres of land, producing rows crops like cotton and soybeans and raising livestock like poultry and cattle. We are the number one producer of rice in the country and the number two producer of poultry and catfish in the nation. Arkansas farm sales rank 13th in total cash receipts among states.

Before I became a member of Congress, I was very involved in the agricultural community. My wife and I raised Hereford cattle and my three girls were very active in their local 4-H chapter. After church, 4-H was probably the most important influence in my family's life. For this reason, I came into my role with an understanding of importance of agriculture and a commitment to help farmers in every way possible.

This year's agricultural tour started off with a tour of the Stobaugh farm in Atkins where they grow rice and soybeans, two of Arkansas' biggest crops. The Stobaugh's and other area farmers have been working on a very impressive irrigation system that draws water from the nearby Arkansas River into their fields. The water returns to the Arkansas River as clean as it was when it came out, if not cleaner. The project uses the natural filters of the land in the area farms to make the system work. This is the sort of ingenuity we need to encourage to help our region cope with the water quality issues that our neighbors and Arkansas have been wrangling over for years.

The tour continued Thursday when I traveled to the University of Arkansas' Horticulture Farm and Food Science Facility and spoke at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Rural Friendship Day. After the events in Fayetteville, I traveled down to Alma, where I toured the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Vegetable Substation. The 87-acres in Alma serve as an "outdoor laboratory" where they conduct research on vegetable crops that are key to the local economy and the state.

The next day, Ryan Anglin opened up his dairy farm in Centerton to me. I spent the morning discussing important agriculture and rural issues with a number of farmers from Benton County that Ryan had invited to join us. We discussed issues like animal ID, the Farm Bill, water quality standards, food safety and bilateral trade agreements.

I then traveled to Berryville for a tour of Alan Honeycutt's farm where he filled me in on the day-to-day operations of running a large cattle operation. Following that tour, we had a town hall in Berryville that was both lively and informative. The crowd filled the dining room of the Berryville Community Center and raised a number of good points about water quality, animal feed regulations and energy issues.

Protecting and maintaining our agricultural community is vital to the economy and quality of life in Arkansas and throughout the country. This tour helped me get an even better understanding of the needs and concerns of the agricultural community. There is a lot that can be done legislatively to help promote our agricultural industry. As a member of the 108th Congress, I intend to do just that.