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Senate committee deadlocks on Plant Board cleanup after heated debate over fertilizer and feed representation
Summary
A statutory 'cleanup' to Plant Board appointments prompted extended testimony from industry groups and the Agriculture Department over whether removing or substituting seats would dilute farmer or cotton-industry representation; the committee adopted an amendment but a final 'do pass as amended' motion failed on a voice vote.
Senators on the Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee debated amendments to a statutory cleanup bill for the Arkansas Plant Board for more than an hour, culminating in a failed final motion to advance the bill.
Senator Ronald Caldwell, sponsor of the amendment to House Bill 18-54, told the committee the change replaces obsolete language and restores representation for farmers by creating an appointee from the fertilizer industry and substituting the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association for an outdated feed-association appointment. "This would take and put an appointee from the fertilizer industry back on the board," Caldwell said, arguing farmers buy fertilizer in every county and the revision would improve representation.
Marvin Childers, president of the Poultry Federation, told the…
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