In troubled times, FARM Champions emerge
May 13, 2025
By Mary Hightower
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Fast facts
- FARM Champions serve as unbiased help for growers
- Resource library, network info available online
(608 words)
DOWNLOAD related logo, image of Vetter
LITTLE ROCK — At a time when farmers are facing their darkest season in four decades, there’s a cohort of FARM Champions ready to help.
FARM Champions are an outgrowth of the Agricultural Finance, Tax and Asset Protection, or AgFTAP, network, said Ron Rainey, director of the Southern Risk Management Education Center, based at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. Rainey has a Ph.D. in economics.
AgFTAP is an assistance network connecting farmers and other agricultural stakeholders to both private and public technical expertise in financial issues, including taxation and asset protection. It’s managed by Allison Vetter, who has a Ph.D. in sociology, of the Southern Risk Management Education Center.
“The purpose of AgFTAP is to enhance producers’ understanding of their business tax issues, financial recordkeeping and asset protection including heirs’ property,” Vetter said. “We do all of that by providing a library of resources and this network of educators and technical assistance providers.”
Vetter said the resources available at its online portal, agftap.org, are especially important in the current farming environment.
“Farming has never been for the faint of heart, but especially now,” said Vetter. “Farmers face rising input costs — I actually heard on the way in this morning, that fertilizer is up 30 percent over a year ago — falling commodity prices, unstable and inconsistent markets, increasing and variable weather patterns, and there are more extreme weather events occurring more often.
“All of these factors combined create the perfect storm,” she said. “We're looking at a crisis like we haven't seen since the 1980s. Families can barely afford to keep farming.”
From contacts to champions
The network has technical experts in almost every state, but instead of just calling them “state contacts,” Rainey said he wanted to provide context for what these experts did.
“That's when we came up with this term, FARM Champion, where ‘FARM’ stands for ‘Farm Assistant Resilience Mentor,’” Rainey said. “We wanted people who were champions for our farmers. We also wanted the farmer to understand that these people are supporters who can help them see things from an unbiased perspective.”
There are FARM Champions in 44 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. The goal is to have Champions in all 50 states and five territories by the end of this summer.
Rainey said some of the FARM Champions come from land-grant universities and law schools, and some are from community-based organizations.
“All of them have training in terms of financing or business planning, and some of them actually work just to help our farmers better understand the available USDA programs,” he said.
Breaking old habits
“Many farmers are farming the way their fathers farmed and their grandfathers before that, and often, other family members before that,” Vetter said. “Some are doing things the way they've always done them, which is great in a lot of cases.”
However, “there may be situations where there are programs available that can help enhance what they're currently doing in their operations, as well as help them mitigate some of the risk of farming,” she said.
Every Wednesday, a FARM Champion podcast hosted by consultant Ahlishia Shipley, who has a Ph.D. in family studies, will walk listeners through the program’s resources and highlight an expert. The podcast is also available on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
“I don't want to oversell what a FARM Champion is. They're not a wizard who can address all deals, and they're not going to guarantee profitability,” Rainey said. “But what I would say, and I will assure you this, engaging with FARM Champions and engaging with our network will help enhance the profitability that you will have, long term profitability and longer-term resilience, because we'll be able to plug into your team of risk management experts that you're relying on.”
FARM Champions is a collaboration between the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and leveraging a national collaborative featuring multiple 1862 and 1890 entities as well as three law schools.
About the Southern Risk Management Education Center
The Southern Risk Management Education Center, SRMEC, was established at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture in 2009. Funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the SRMEC is one of four regional Extension Risk Management Education Centers located throughout the country.
Its mission is to educate farmers and ranchers to manage the unique risks of producing food for the world’s table. The Southern Center, in conjunction with the other three regional Centers, conducts the Extension Risk Management Education Competitive Grants Program.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. To learn more about ag and food research in Arkansas, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at aaes.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land-grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 22 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact:
Nick Kordsmeier
nkordsme@uada.edu