Governor Huckabee's News Column: State Agencies Jump into Action

Statement

Governor Huckabee's News Column - State Agencies Jump into Action

A little more than two weeks after becoming our newest state agency and with Dick Bell in place as the first Secretary of Agriculture, the Arkansas Agriculture Department found itself heavily involved in responding to the Hurricane Katrina crisis. Many people may not realize the wide range of state agencies involved in helping our neighboring states affected by the storm. But I assure you it took a complete effort from a wide variety of our state agencies and employees.

First, let me give you the short version of the experience Dick brings to the position. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Illinois. During his career, Dick served as assistant secretary of agriculture for international affairs and commodity programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. and received the USDA's Distinguished Service Award for expanding U.S. agriculture trade and food aid during the early 1970's. Currently, Dick serves as an advisor to Riceland Foods, Inc. Dick's long career at Riceland includes serving as executive vice-president and chief operating officer for four years, followed by 23 years of service as president and chief executive officer. In 2003, Bell was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame and into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2005. As you can see from this brief recap, Dick has a very impressive resume. I said it the day I nominated him for the position, and I'll say it again here. Among agricultural interests, he has no peer. And I can't really think of anyone more appropriate to serve as Arkansas' Secretary of Agriculture than Dick Bell.

Shortly into the Katrina catastrophe, Dick and the newly created department were unexpectedly faced with a serious problem for Arkansas farmers. Damage from the hurricane caused exporters to halt purchases of corn, other grains and soybeans, primarily due to the inability to load the ships at the ports in and around New Orleans. Unfortunately for Arkansas farmers, this occurred during the ongoing corn harvest and the beginning of the rice and soybean harvests. In order to prevent Arkansas farmers from being forced to halt their harvesting of crops or being forced to sell into distressed markets, the Arkansas Agriculture Department, along with similar agencies in other states, sought approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to store crops temporarily on the ground and for these crops to be made eligible for government loans, until crop prices improve and shipping recovers at New Orleans ports. Fortunately for Arkansas, approval was granted on September 6, just few days after the request was initiated.

But this was not the only issue facing the department. The Arkansas Forestry Commission, a branch of the Agriculture Department, sent 30 disaster relief officials to Hurricane Katrina impacted areas. These department personnel spread across Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi and tackled various assignments including chainsaw crews, paramedics and even radio operators to work in areas where telephone communications were inoperable. Many of these men and women were away for up to two weeks helping evacuees and those remaining in the areas Katrina impacted most. Even though twenty-two of these employees have returned to our state, requests are still being received for new workers in the affected areas.

These are just a few examples of the extraordinary work being done by our state employees and agencies. And people everywhere are noticing. I want to thank all of you for a job well done. Your efforts truly have made a difference in people's lives.

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