(1) The General Assembly finds that:(1) Agriculture accounts for thirteen billion dollars ($13,000,000,000) or one-fifth (⅕) of the gross state product of Arkansas;(2) Two hundred ninety-one thousand (291,000) Arkansas jobs directly involve or operate in support of agriculture;(3) Agriculture and agriculture-related jobs account for twenty-three percent (23%) of all employment in Arkansas;(4) Responsibility for supporting agriculture in Arkansas is spread across six (6) state agencies;(5) Marketing of the agricultural products of Arkansas is made extremely difficult by the diffusion of responsibility across six (6) state agencies; and(6) Marketing of the agricultural products of Arkansas would be vastly improved if a central office were devoted to creating, publicizing, and sustaining an information network for Arkansas farmers and ranchers.
(1) Agriculture accounts for thirteen billion dollars ($13,000,000,000) or one-fifth (⅕) of the gross state product of Arkansas;
(2) Two hundred ninety-one thousand (291,000) Arkansas jobs directly involve or operate in support of agriculture;
(3) Agriculture and agriculture-related jobs account for twenty-three percent (23%) of all employment in Arkansas;
(4) Responsibility for supporting agriculture in Arkansas is spread across six (6) state agencies;
(5) Marketing of the agricultural products of Arkansas is made extremely difficult by the diffusion of responsibility across six (6) state agencies; and
(6) Marketing of the agricultural products of Arkansas would be vastly improved if a central office were devoted to creating, publicizing, and sustaining an information network for Arkansas farmers and ranchers.