Late last week, the Department of Homeland Security designated food and agriculture one of 16 critical sectors in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, and said that workers in those industries should stay on the job. Arkansas Farm Bureau and a consortium of agriculture industry groups have come together to thank Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for his response to the COVID-19 crisis so far and request that he designate agriculture as essential at the state level. In the event that stricter COVID-19 measures must be invoked and more work stoppages be required, we must ensure that agriculture and agriculture-related businesses can continue to operate in order to provide the food, fiber and shelter the nation and world requires. To maintain a safe and abundant food supply, work must continue across the agricultural spectrum, from input businesses to farmers and ranchers to transportation and food processing operations.

The groups that came to together to sign on to this letter are: 

• Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation 
• Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association 
• Livestock Marketing Association 
• Arkansas Forestry Association 
• Catfish Farmers of Arkansas 
• Agricultural Council of Arkansas 
• Arkansas Pork Producers Association 
• Producers Rice Mill 
• Arkansas Soybean Association 
• The Poultry Federation 
• Riceland Foods 
• AgHeritage Farm Credit Services 
• Farm Credit of Western Arkansas 
• Farm Credit MidSouth 
• Delta ACA Farm Credit Services 
• Arkansas Rice Federation 

A copy of the letter from these organizations to Gov. Hutchinson is downloadable below.