Fields named associate director of Southern Risk Management Education Center

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK —  Erica Fields has been named associate director of the Southern Risk Management Education Center.

Fields joined the center in February 2017 as a financial manager.

Erica Fields has been named associate director of the Southern Risk Management Education Center. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Kerry Rodtnick)

“Erica has performed admirably as financial manager. In her new role, she will expand her financial duties to include program development in financial stress,” said Ron Rainey, center director and assistant vice president for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We are proud of her efforts and glad for the opportunity to promote her to associate director.”

Fields is uniquely qualified for work with financial stress. She is a licensed social worker with a Master of Social work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and holds a Master of Business Administration from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.

“I am deeply honored to carry on the responsibility of overseeing the financial operations of the Southern Center,” Fields said. “I am enthusiastic about spearheading initiatives aimed at developing and promoting education on farm financial stress and well-being, while also fostering collaborative efforts with ag stakeholders.”

The Southern Risk Management Education Center, housed within the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is one of four centers nationwide whose mission is to educate farmers and ranchers to manage the unique risks of producing food. The center is funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The center has served nearly 1 million individual farmers and ranchers in the southern region, empowering them with the skills and tools to effectively manage risks. The southern region encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.