Farm Bureau elects officers, sets policy for 2007

In the business session that ended the three-day gathering in the Hot Springs Convention Center, the delegate body unanimously elected Reed, a cotton farmer, and Veach, who raises cotton and rice. Subsequently, the state board, in its regular post-convention meeting, re-elected Andrews, a rice and soybeans producer. Additionally, the convention`s almost 350 voting delegates from across Arkansas reelected Joe Christian of Jonesboro (Craighead County), Rusty Smith of Cotton Plant (Woodruff County), Leo Sutterfield of Mountain View (Stone County), Allen Stewart of Mena (Polk County), Tom Jones of Pottsville (Pope County), Terry Dabbs of Stuttgart (Arkansas County) and Johnny Loftin of El Dorado (Union County) to the state board for two years. Each year, half of the board stands for election. In other business in the session, the delegates favored changing the sales taxes on groceries, provided the funding is sufficient to offset the loss of revenue without increasing other taxes. Farm Bureau policy previously opposed removal of sales taxes on food. The delegates approved policy favoring a sales tax-free weekend in August for parents buying school supplies, clothes and computers for their children. In addition, they approved policy on alternative fuels, animal waste, commodity production and other farm and social issues. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)