$6.5 million funding request to help agriculture research expected in upcoming legislative session
By Mary Hennigan, Arkansas Advocate
Receiving fewer profits for this year’s rice and soybean yield has put John Weiss, a farmer in Arkansas’ Mississippi County, in a difficult situation.
Instead of $13 for a bushel of soybeans this year, Weiss said he took $10. The loss adds up on his 3,500-acre farm, he said.
“We’re in dire straits,” said Weiss, who attended the annual Arkansas Farm Bureau convention in Hot Springs in early December. “It’s just low commodity prices — input prices stay high, and we’re still trying to farm and figure this out.”
Agriculture is Arkansas’ largest industry, contributing about $20 billion to the state’s economy annually with its yield of rice, soybeans, cotton and feed grains, according to Arkansas Farm Bureau. But commodity prices are determined through a market, which means Arkansas farmers can’t set the price for their crop.
With the current low commodity prices and high input costs on seed, fertilizer, chemicals, equipment, labor and interest rates, Arkansas farmers are consistently losing money on their harvest.
Weiss, 50, said he’s not in a position where he has to step out of farming, but he knows older folks who are “looking at it and saying ‘It’s not my battle, I’m tired of it.’ And they’re going to step away. They’re going to retire, whether it be by choice or by the bank saying ‘Are you sure you really want to do this and put up more equity?’”
Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward told the Advocate he thinks the struggles Arkansas’ row crop farmers experience are primarily from federal programs. He said state leadership frequently communicates with Arkansas’ congressional delegation, of which Sen. John Boozman will become the Senate Agriculture Committee chair in January.
As of Dec. 20, Congress had not passed a new farm bill — a package of federal legislation that, among other things, aims to keep food prices fair for farmers and consumers — since 2018. Instead, lawmakers have repeatedly extended the last version of the legislation.
“We are stuck with very outdated reference prices and no real government safety net for farmers at this point,” said Brandy Carroll, Arkansas Farm Bureau
The 2018 legislation set a reference price to offer farmers relief if commodity prices are low, but the reference price has become outdated as Congress continues to extend the bill.
“We are stuck with very outdated reference prices and no real government safety net for farmers at this point,” said Brandy Carroll, Arkansas Farm Bureau’s director of commodity activities and market information.
On Dec. 2, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined 16 other governors with a signed letter urging Congress to pass a farm bill. Sanders’ stance goes against Boozman’s expectation of yet another extension.
“Farmers are projected to lose up to $35 billion in lost profit this year alone,” the letter read. “And in many communities, some farmers and ranchers will not be able to continue their operations beyond this year. Any loss of agricultural operations directly impacts the provision of basic necessities that we all depend on every single day.”
From a state standpoint, Ward said the Department of Agriculture is working to ensure there are minimal barriers for farmers.
“[We’re] certainly trying to make sure that we’re not growing government, that we’re getting out of their way,” he said. “Any sort of fee or additional burden is just one more thing a producer has to worry about, or has to figure out how to pay for.”
While some regulations may come with a monetary price tag, Ward said the cost for farmers to be in compliance is often their own time and resources.
Future funding request
During an Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee meeting in December, Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne, said his fellow lawmakers need to “hold firm” that a $6.5 million request for the University of Arkansas System’s agriculture division doesn’t get taken out of the budget.
“Every county has an extension office, extension agents and employees there that we’re having to compete with because we gave the teachers a significant pay raise, we’re giving State Police a significant pay raise.” — Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne
The university’s Division of Agriculture focuses on research and development in communities across the state. Projects range from nutrition work to personal finance and yield trials. Vice President for Agriculture Deacue Fields said the division helps take the “guesswork out of decision making for farmers.”
“The Division of [Agriculture] affects every county,” said Caldwell, incoming chair of the Legislature’s ag committee. “Every county has an extension office, extension agents and employees there that we’re having to compete with because we gave the teachers a significant pay raise, we’re giving State Police a significant pay raise.”
About 1,200 statewide employees are on the UA Division of Agriculture’s payroll, and Fields said it’s likely employees would start seeking higher paying jobs if a permanent budget increase isn’t approved.
“Without the funding, we don’t have the capacity or the people to do the research necessary to create innovative solutions,” Fields said. “We’re looking at ways to reduce water, we’re looking at ways to reduce input [costs]. We don’t have the funding to continue to do that type of work without an increase.”
More than half of the proposed $6.5 million budget increase would be used toward wages, Fields said. The remaining funding would help start new data analytics programs at the division.
Fields said the Legislature last approved the division’s permanent budget increase in 2017. The current budget is set at $65.8 million.
“We’ve got to require the Legislature and the executive branch to leave that budget increase in their budget. So, y’all be prepared for that. They’ll be coming. There’ll be a fight coming this session,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell said the funding request should be included in the Division of Ag’s budget proposal, which the Legislature would vote to include in the Revenue Stabilization Act that the governor then consults.
Funding can be changed during the RSA stage, and the Legislature may vote on different allocations when the report is sent back for a final vote. Caldwell said even if both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve the $6.5 million increase, it may not appear in the final budget.
Personal and community impact
While Weiss said the challenges he faces on his 30-year old farm in Mississippi County are difficult, he is also fighting to keep his farm active for his children.
“We’re trying to hand down generations of farms, and we’re leveraging everything we have every year to do this,” he said. “It’s just scary to think that they’re not going to have the opportunity we’re going to have to buy land and farm the way we did when we were younger.”
Of the nearly 38,000 Arkansas farms reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2022, 86% were family-owned. Overall, the number of farms in Arkansas has steadily decreased since 2007 while a farm’s average acreage has increased, according to the USDA.
“You lose those farms, you lose a lot of reason for those people to stick around those small, rural communities. Because besides that, all there might be there is a Dollar General.” — Tyler Oxner, Arkansas Farm Bureau
This trend, especially in rural areas, can be detrimental to communities that rely on agriculture for local support businesses and people who attend their schools, grocery stores and churches, said Carroll, who is from Weiner, a small east Arkansas town.
“Many rural communities have lost their school to consolidation, and once that happens, the town really loses everything,” Carroll said.
Tyler Oxner, Arkansas Farm Bureau’s director of commodity activities and economics, said Carroll’s experience was similar to his own in his Delta hometown of Marvell.
“You lose those farms, you lose a lot of reason for those people to stick around those small, rural communities,” he said. “Because besides that, all there might be there is a Dollar General.”
At a larger scale, the loss of American farms can have an effect on non-farmers nationwide due to an increase in imported goods, which could lead to more expensive food, fuel and clothing, Oxner said.
A strong agriculture industry is something that can sometimes be taken for granted, Ward said.
“It’s the industry that provides the food, fiber, fuel and shelter. I know we say that a lot, but if that doesn’t exist — then what?” the agriculture secretary said.
Featured image: USDA – Brandon O’Connor
The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.
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