Department of Agriculture
Supporting Arkansas farmers and ranchers while ensuring safe food, fiber, and forest products for the citizens of Arkansas, the nation, and across the globe
Boards & Commissions
Abandoned Pesticide Advisory Board
The Abandoned Pesticide Advisory Board selects ten counties per year with a goal of holding at least one collection event in every county in Arkansas. The Advisory Board uses priority watersheds as a guiding principle when selecting counties for pesticide collections.
The board is composed of up to six members, one member from each of the following: Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, Inc., the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the State Plant Board, who shall serve as the board's chair. Members of the board shall serve without compensation.
For information about the current Board Members, the program or the 2021 Pesticide Collection Schedule click here.
Arkansas Agriculture Board
The Arkansas Agriculture Board offers expertise to the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture on all matters concerning agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture and kindred industries.
The Arkansas Agriculture Board is appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson and consists of 20 voting members and 8 nonvoting ex officio members. Each member brings expertise and experience on specific areas of agriculture. The Board elects officers every two years.
Click here to view the Arkansas Agriculture Board Members.
Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Committee
The mission of this Committee is to oversee the program budget and activities of the Arkansas Boll Weevil Foundation. The Committee consists of members of the Plant Board. There is no selection process established. The current Board Members are: Chair - Joe Mencer, Vice Chair - Matt Hyneman, Scott Bray, Gregg Garner, Pace Hindsley, Travis Senter, Benton Felts, and Ramey Stiles.
Arkansas Forestry Commission
The mission of the Forestry Division is to protect Arkansas’s forests, and those who enjoy them, from wildland fire and natural hazards while promoting rural and urban forest health, stewardship, development and conservation for all generations of Arkansans.
Nine members are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Three members must be tree farmers owning 250 acres or less of timber acreage. Each congressional district must be represented.
Click here to view the Arkansas Forestry Board of Commissioners
Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission
The mission of the Livestock and Poultry Commission is to control, suppress, and eradicate livestock and poultry diseases and pests; supervise livestock and poultry sanitary work in the state.
Click here to view the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Board of Commissioners.
Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board
The purpose of the Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board is to take actions to assure the continued viability of dairy farming in the state; assure consumers of an adequate, local supply of milk; encourage increased production to meet the state’s need for quality milk.
The Board consists of five members; two members actively engaged in dairy farming, one Arkansas consumer, one Arkansas milk processor, and one Arkansas retailer. The current members are Vice Chairman William Anglin, Secretary/Treasurer Michael Flagg, Griffin Golloher, Van Morley and Fredrick Simon.
Proposed Rules
The Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board is proposing the Milk Stabilization Rules to ensure that Arkansas milk producers receive Class 1 prices for milk produced and sold as fluid milk within Arkansas pursuant to Act 521 of 2021.
Comments can be mailed to: Arkansas Department of Agriculture – Attn: Kolton Jones,
1 Natural Resources Dr., Little Rock, AR 72205, or emailed to dana.jones@agriculture.arkansas.gov
Comments will be accepted beginning February 6, until the close of business on March 7, 2022. Oral comments may be made in person at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, 1 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205 on March 2, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.
Click here to view the proposed rules.
Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
The Commission establishes policy and makes funding and regulatory decisions relative to soil conservation, nutrient management, water rights, dam safety and water resources planning and development.
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The members serve staggered seven-year terms of office. Each of Arkansas's four congressional districts is represented by two commissioners with the ninth commissioner holding an at-large position.
Click here to view the Commissioners.
Arkansas Seed Arbitration Committee
The purpose of the Seed Arbitration Committee is to assist agricultural seed buyers and agricultural seed dealers or labelers in determining the facts relating to matters alleged in complaints made by buyers against dealers or labelers. The committee may make rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this act.
The committee may recommend money damages be paid the buyer as a result of alleged failure of seeds to produce as represented by the labeling of the seed and may also recommend that the seed dealer or labeler reimburse the buyer for the amount of the filing fee paid by the buyer.
Arkansas State Board of Registration for Foresters
The purpose of the Arkansas State Board of Registered Foresters is to protect private forest landowners, and license and register foresters who are qualified, experienced, and maintain their continuing education.
The Board consists of six members appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Five members are foresters engaged in forestry for at least 12 years. One member is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello School of Forest Resources, and one member is a consumer that is not actively engaged in or retired from the forestry profession. One member is nominated by each of the following: Arkansas Forestry Association, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Provost of the University of Arkansas at Monticello from the School of Forest Resources’ faculty or staff, Arkansas Division of the Ouachita Society of American Foresters, and Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters, Inc.
Click here to view Board Members.
Arkansas State Board of Registration for Professional Soil Classifiers
The primary duty of the Board is to regulate the profession of soil classifying through registration and examination of Professional Soil Classifiers and Soil Classifiers-in-Training.
They are also responsible for assuring those individuals who are registered professional soil classifiers are qualified to perform soil classification work in the State of Arkansas. The Board is made up of five members and meets from two to several times annually for the purpose of reviewing applications, examining credentials of applicants, administering examinations, hearing complaints and carrying out other activities normal to such boards.
Click here to view Board rules.
Arkansas Water Well Construction Commission
The Arkansas Water Well Construction Commission licenses contractors, certifies water well drillers and pump installers, and provides oversight of technical water well construction rules for the development of underground water in an efficient, orderly, sanitary, reasonable, and safe manner.
The Commission is composed of 7 members: the Secretary of the Department of Health; the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture; a person recommended by the Arkansas Heat Pump Association, the EnviroEnergy Group, or another ground water source industry association; two water well drillers located southeast of the fall line in Arkansas; and two water well drillers located southwest of the fall line.
Click here to view the Water Well Construction Commissioners.
Private Wetland and Riparian Zone Creation, Restoration, and Conservation Committee
This Committee consists of directors, or their designees, of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, and two public members appointed by the Commission. Selection of public members shall be made on the basis of their knowledge of wetlands and riparian zones with consideration given to representation of a wide variety of interests.
Committee members are: Cindy Osborne, Darren Spinks, and Jennifer Sheehan, Jody Duke, Kayti Ewing, Lazendra Hairston, Matthew Irvin and Melanie Treat.
Ouachita River Commission
The Ouachita River Commission cooperates with the appropriate state and federal agencies for the study, planning, and implementation of needed improvements or projects, or both, to and along the main stem of the Ouachita River in Dallas, Hot Spring, Clark, Ouachita, Calhoun, Union, Bradley, and Ashley Counties, Arkansas.
Nine members are appointed by the Governor; one each from Dallas County, Hot Spring County, Clark County, Ouachita County, Calhoun County, Union County, Bradley County, and Ashley County. The ninth member is the highest-ranking official of the Ouachita River Valley Association and a resident of Arkansas.
Red River Compact Commission
The mission of the Red River Compact Commission is to promote interstate comity among each of the four member states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana) by governing use, control, and distribution of the interstate water of the Red River and its tributaries.
The membership consists of two representatives from each signatory state, designated/appointed in accordance with the laws of each state, and one Commissioner appointed by the President of the United States. Arkansas’s representatives are the Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture and a second member residing within the basin of the Red River who is appointed by the Governor.
You can read the compact by going to this free, publicly accessible version of the Arkansas Code and searching for “Red River Compact."
Training Advisory Board for Retail Water Providers and Related Services- Act 605
Act 605 of the 2021 regular session of the Arkansas General Assembly amended the law regarding retail water providers to provide additional oversight of providers and training of provider board members. Act 605 placed oversight of retail water providers under the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and established a process for rate studies and improvement plans for providers found to be in fiscal distress. The law also created a 15-member advisory training board for the development of required training for members of retail water provider boards.
Below is a list of the positions (or their designee) required to serve on the advisory training board and those serving in FY2022:
Arkansas State Plant Board
The mission of the Arkansas State Plant Board is to protect and serve citizens and agricultural and business communities by providing information and unbiased enforcement of laws and regulations.
Click here to view the Arkansas State Plant Board Members.
Arkansas Veterinary Medical Examining Board
The mission of the Veterinary Medical Examining Board is to administer the veterinary statutes with the highest degree of integrity, competency and efficiency, commensurate with the professional standards of veterinarians and veterinary technicians.
This board has the responsibility to examine and determine the qualifications and fitness of applicants to practice general veterinary medicine or any specialty area thereof, and certification of veterinary technicians; to issue, renew, deny, suspend or revoke licenses or certificates or otherwise discipline veterinarians or veterinary technicians; to conduct investigations on persons practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
The boards primary activities are to 1) Administer the Written State Jurisprudence Exam once a year to all qualified veterinary applicants; 2) Grant a license to those who pass the State Board and otherwise qualify; 3) Evaluate qualifications of education, skill and experience for certification of a person as a veterinary technician; 4) Annually register all DVM’s and CVT’s and issue them a certificate to practice; 5) Investigate violations of the Veterinary Medical Practice Act and Regulations and take disciplinary action where appropriate; 6) Monitor mandatory continuing professional education on DVM’s and CVT’s who hold a license or certificate to practice; and 7) Hold formal or informal hearings when needed.
To view the Veterinary Medical Examining Board Members click here.
