Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward will be the guest speaker at Southern Arkansas University’s Collegiate FFA 2016 Banquet at 6:30 p.m. on February 25 at the SAU Reynolds Center Grand Hall.
Tickets for the banquet are $20, and the deadline to purchase is February 19. Contact the SAU Department of Agriculture at (870) 235-4350.
Proceeds from the dinner will help SAU Collegiate FFA members attend the National FFA Convention in support of National FFA President Taylor McNeel. The SAU junior Agriculture Business major was elected National FFA president on October 31, and has taken a year off from her studies to travel representing the organization and its more than 610,000 members.
Also, $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Arkansas FFA Foundation.
Wes Ward serves as the 3rd Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Arkansas. He was appointed to the position in March 2015 by Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Ward is from the small town of Lake City in Northeast Arkansas and is a graduate of Riverside High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business with an emphasis in Agricultural Finance from Arkansas State University. He earned a law degree and has also completed the joint LL.M./M.S. degree program at the University of Arkansas for a Master of Laws degree in Agricultural and Food Law and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics.
He has been serving in the United States Marine Corps for more than 15 years and has completed deployments to Afghanistan and Jordan with the 1st Marine Division and 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. He is currently serving in the Marine Corps Reserves as a Civil Affairs Officer and Team Leader with the 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Great Lakes, Illinois. He has also worked as a Field Coordinator for U.S. Congressman Rick Crawford doing agricultural outreach and as an Adjunct Law Professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department includes the State Plant Board, the Livestock and Poultry Commission, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission. The Arkansas Agriculture Department is dedicated to the development and implementation of policies and programs for Arkansas agriculture and forestry to keep its Farmers and Ranchers competitive in national and international markets while ensuring safe food, fiber, and forest products for the citizens of the state and nation.
