Veach continues as Arkansas Farm Bureau leader

Published December 1, 2017

Officers and several state board members also elected

LITTLE ROCK — Randy Veach and Rich Hillman will continue as president and vice president, respectively, of Arkansas Farm Bureau following their re-election Friday. Delegates also elected seven other board members and filled a vacant board seat during the final day of the organization’s 83rd annual convention at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

Veach, of Manila begins his 10th term as president. He is Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 10th president since its creation in 1935. Veach and his wife, Thelma, farm in and around the community of Lost Cane near Manila. He is a third-generation farmer.

“It is a great honor to have this organization’s trust and continue serving our state’s diverse agricultural interests,” Veach said. “Farm Bureau’s role, during the past 83 years and well into the future, is to ensure that agriculture is relevant, to advocate on behalf of agriculture and remain a key component of our state’s economic and political landscape. We must continue to have the best interest of our farmers and ranchers in mind.”

Hillman is from Carlisle and will begin his 10th term as vice president. He is a sixth-generation farmer. His main crops are rice, soybeans and wheat. He and his wife, Tina, have two grown children, Collin and Caroline.

“I look forward to serving with President Veach, the state board and all of the membership of Arkansas Farm Bureau. I want to continue working for those committed to agriculture throughout the state and am always humbled by the trust placed in me by this great organization,” Hillman said.

Board action later resulted in the re-election of Joe Christian of Jonesboro as Secretary/Treasurer. Christian is a row-crop farmer who grows rice and soybeans. He and his wife, Leah, have two children, Alex and Grayson.

The voting delegates re-elected six board members to new two-year terms. They include: Sherry Felts, Joiner; Jon Carroll, Moro; Gene Pharr, Lincoln; Bruce Jackson, Lockesburg; Joe Thrash, Houston; and Mike Freeze, Little Rock. New board members included Terry Laster of Strong; and delegates in District 3 had to fill the one-year unexpired board term of the late Leo Sutterfield. Jeremy Miller of Huntsville was selected to fill the final year of that term.

Voting delegates also addressed a wide range of federal and state policy issues including positions on the Arkansas Agriculture Department retaining its present structure and the appointment of a director for the Livestock and Poultry Commission; more options to eradicate feral hogs; and the State Plant Board’s position on dicamba. Also discussed were mineral rights; highway maintenance and transportation of farm products; higher priority for funding the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture; and proposals for new federal immigration and regulatory reforms.

Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private advocacy organization of more than 191,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

Rob Anderson
(501) 228-1640
rob.anderson@arfb.com

Gregg Patterson
(501) 228-1282
gregg.patterson@arfb.com