by Carol Rolf
Special to Arkansas Agriculture

Arkansas farmers and agricultural businesses, as well as consumers, reap the benefits of work done by the Arkansas State Plant Board in any number of ways.

   Its mission is “to protect and serve the citizens of Arkansas and the agricultural and business communities by providing information and unbiased enforcement of laws and regulations thus ensuring quality products and services.”

   Established in 1917, the Arkansas State Plant Board is one of the oldest state agencies. “It was originally established to deal with plant pests and eradication,” Darryl Little, director of the Arkansas State Plant Board, explained. He said the original organization consisted of five board members and three or four employees. Today’s agency has 150 employees.

   “Anyone can call us and ask us to look into a situation,” said Little. “We will steer them in the right direction.”

   Little is a longtime employee of the state plant board. He has been director for the last six years, after starting his career as an inspector 30 years ago. Little said the director’s position is “recommended by the board, confirmed by the governor and serves at the pleasure of the governor.”

   “Over the years, the General Assembly has added more programs under the jurisdiction of the plant board,” Little said. “As different industries became affected, the membership of the board of directors has grown to 16. Of those, 10 are from different industries, four are farmers and two are ex-officio members from the University of Arkansas.”

   Little said nine members of the board are elected by industry associations and are appointed by the governor. Two at-large farmers, one rice farmer, one cotton farmer and the representative for the fertilizer industry/cotton oil mills are appointed by the governor. The two members from the University of Arkansas serve by virtue of their positions. Excluding the two ex-officio members, they all serve two-year terms, and there is no limit to the number of terms they can serve.

   George Tidwell of Lonoke serves as president of the board of directors; he represents the Arkansas Agricultural Aviation Association. Other members and their affiliations are John Andrews of Walnut Ridge, representing rice growers; Rick Bransford of Lonoke, at-large farmers; Dr. Richard Collins of Conway, Arkansas Horticultural Society; Otis Howe of Little Rock, Arkansas Crop Protection Association; Jerry Hyde of Paragould, Arkansas Pest Management Association; Larry Jayroe of Forrest City, fertilizer and oil mills; Dee Ann Landreth of North Little Rock, Feed Manufacturers’ Association; Noal Lawhon of Sherwood, Arkansas Seed Dealers’ Association; Dr. Sung Lim of Fayetteville, University of Arkansas, Plant Pathology; Lester McKinley of DeWitt, Arkansas Seed Growers’ Association; Wayne Owen of Monticello, Forestry Association; Donna Pittman-King of Magnolia, Arkansas Green Industry Association; Randy Veach of Manila, cotton growers; Mark Waldrip of Moro, at-large farmers; and Dr. Robert Wiedenmann of Fayetteville, University of Arkansas, Entomology.

   The state plant board meets quarterly at its headquarters at 1 Natural Resources Drive in Little Rock. Little said rule changes are usually part of the board’s main duties. The board has to have public hearings before rules can be changed.

   The Arkansas State Plant Board is divided into several divisions:  Administration, Bureau of Standards, Seed, Pesticides, Marketing, Plant Industry and Feed and Fertilizer.

Administration

   This division is comprised of six sections. Little and Gerald Fulbright, assistant director, coordinate the work of all agency divisions and sections and direct the fieldwork of the agricultural specialists.

Bureau of Standards

   The work done by this division “touches people’s lives every day,” Little said. It regulates everything that is weighed and measured, “from the gas you pump at the gas station to the ruler you purchase at the store.” Little continued that this division alone employs 35 people.  This division maintains a metrology lab, which deals with the science of measurement. “This is the state standards lab for calibrating all weighing and measuring devices in the state,” Little said.

   This division also maintains a petroleum lab to ensure fuels specifications are met. Both labs are located on 61st Street in the old industrial park in southwest Little Rock.

   Little said members of the public can call and ask the board to investigate if they think something is wrong. “When fuel prices go up, we get calls,” Little said. “We send someone to check the gas pumps to make sure the octane level is correct. They will pull as many samples as they can in places where the consumer gets the gas. They will also check the terminal to ensure the quality of the gas.”

Seed Division

   Employees in this division enforce seed laws and regulations, manage the seed certification program and operate an official seed laboratory.

   Aaron Palmer, seed lab manager, said the seed collection is used for easy identification of foreign seeds.

   “We have every seed imaginable,” he explained. “It helps us to have a seed to look at rather than just a drawing. It makes you feel more confident in identifying foreign or unknown seeds.

   “The seed lab is extremely busy this time of year with testing soybeans and rice to make sure the seeds we plant are as good as they can be,” Little explained.

Pesticides

   The stated mission of this division is “to ensure the proper labeling, distribution, storage, transportation, use, application and disposal of pesticides…” Before a pesticide can be sold in Arkansas, it must be registered with the plant board.

Marketing

   This division works to aid in the marketing of Arkansas agricultural products, to raise public awareness of the plant board and its role in Arkansas agriculture and to coordinate plant board events and special activities.

Plant Industry

   This division is divided into four sections — apiary, commercial pest control, plant inspection and quarantine section and pink bollworm section.

Feed and Fertilizer

   This division enforces the feed and fertilizer laws and regulations, oversees the Medicated Feed Mill Inspection Grant and enforces the Public Grain Warehouse and Catfish Processor laws and regulations.

   More information on the Arkansas Plant Board can be found on its web site www.plantboard.org.