The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame has announced that its induction ceremony will be postponed for three weeks due to safety concerns surrounding the increase in COVID-19 cases in Arkansas. The induction ceremony is now scheduled to occur at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock on March 25.

This is the third delay for the event, originally scheduled for early March 2021, postponed again in August 2021 and now moved from its intended date of March 4.

“This is such an important event for Arkansas agriculture,” said Butch Calhoun of Des Arc, chairman of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame board. “We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to be there to honor this great class of inductees.

“We believe the three additional weeks will allow for this spike of Covid 19 to subside, and hopefully allow everyone to be comfortable with attending the induction ceremony.

“I believe our board of directors has again made every effort to ensure we can honor the inductees into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Honor. This ceremony is about celebrating those who have led Arkansas agriculture to become the state’s largest economic driver. We first announced this class in January of 2021. I know they will all be honored when we can finally officially welcome them into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.”

Those set for induction include:

• retired Cooperative Extension Service Director Rick Cartwright of Fayetteville;
• long-time ag educator Joe Don Greenwood of Hermitage;
• the late Russell Roy Reynolds, director of the U.S. Forest Service Crossett Experimental Forest for 34 years;
• former Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach of Manila;
• Mark Waldrip of Moro, founder of Armor Seed Company;
• and Andrew Wargo III of Watson, farm manager for the 15,000-acre Baxter Land Company for more than 50 years.

The mission of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame is to build public awareness of agriculture and to formally recognize and honor individuals whose efforts have led to the prosperity of local communities and the state. There are 170 who have previously been inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame, which began in 1987.