The Women’s Leadership Committee from Scott County is the Outstanding County Women’s Program award winner for 2021. The group was recognized Dec. 2 during Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 87th Annual Conference at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. It was a repeat win for the county, which also earned the honor in 2020.

(L to R) ArFB President Rich Hillman, Magen Allen, Regina Oliver and ArFB VP Mike Freeze.

Committee chairwoman Regina Oliver of Waldron accepted the award for Scott County. “This means so much to our committee,” she said. “It takes the whole team to do this—to pull the wagon so to speak. And we all pulled the wagon. We did what we needed to do. 2020 was a real challenge for us, but we already had everything in line to accomplish what we set out to do. Then in 2021, we were asking ourselves, where do we go from here? I’m proud to say we made it happen.”

Each year, Arkansas Farm Bureau honors the county Women’s Leadership Committee that exhibits exemplary support of its county organization, activities and goals. These committees are a vital part of the county Farm Bureau organizations as they plan and implement programs and activities that are an important part of Farm Bureau’s mission. They conduct community-based activities and programs involving Ag in the Classroom, farm tours, commodity promotion, safety, health, agricultural policy and more.

The members of the Scott County committee share their passion for agriculture and Farm Bureau through school programs, field days, involvement in school and community activities, advocating for student ag programs and educational outreach in classrooms, as well as building relationships with local agriculture-related businesses and cooperatives. Their goal is to educate the students in their county about agriculture while creating an awareness and appreciation for farmers and their work.

Debbie Moreland of Pulaski County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee received the Arkansas Farm Bureau Women’s Diamond Award, which honors a county Farm Bureau leader whose volunteer efforts are above and beyond the norm. She lives in Natural Steps with her husband Bart.

“I’m just stunned,” Moreland said. “I never expected to receive such a great honor.”

(L to R) ArFB President Rich Hillman, Magen Allen, Debbie Moreland and ArFB VP Mike Freeze.

Moreland has spent close to four decades promoting agriculture in her county and on the state level. Her leadership skills have earned her positions on the State Women’s Leadership Committee as well as other boards and committees. She began her Farm Bureau leadership on the county Women’s Committee and became a county board member in Pulaski County in 2000. Her career path was originally nursing, but in 1992 with the encouragement of her father-in-law, her path began to shift to agriculture when she joined the Soil Conservation Board, where she later served as president. She is currently serving as president of the Pulaski County Farm Bureau and is program administrator for the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts.

“To me, this shows the value of having good mentors like Betty Oliver who encouraged me and pushed me, even when it wasn’t comfortable,” she said. “Of course, no one does this alone, and I’m very grateful to all the people who helped me get here.”

Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private advocacy organization of almost 190,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

For more information, contact: 

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

or 

Keith Sutton
(501) 228-1274
keith.sutton@arfb.com