New department head Nalley puts land-grant mission integration high on priority list

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.  — Lanier Nalley, the new head of the agricultural economics and agribusiness department, plans to continue to build on his predecessor’s foundation and work toward a fuller integration of land-grant research, extension and teaching. 

FULL APPOINTMENT — Lanier Nalley will take the reins of the Agricultural Economics/Agribusiness Department in October 2024. He had been serving as interim. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

Nalley has served as interim department head since the beginning of 2024 and will begin his new position — without the interim title — on Oct. 7. Nalley succeeds John Anderson, the previous department head, who went on to become director of the Cooperative Extension Service in January.

“We saw him grow and develop as a leader. One of the things we noticed during his time as interim is how good of an advocate Lanier was for his faculty, even making significant personal sacrifices to benefit the whole unit,” said Deacue Fields, vice president-agriculture for the University of Arkansas System and head of the Division of Agriculture. “He will be missed in the role he’s played. He’s a top researcher and educator and has extension experience. He really gets all three land-grant functions.”

No longer a stepping stone

“When I first came here, Arkansas seemed to be a place where professors came and then went to quote-unquote better schools,” Nalley said. “It’s been so nice to see a transformation where this is now a destination, not a stepping stone for academics. John Anderson really laid that foundation. I hope to carry that on.”

Nalley also said he was keen to continue serving stakeholders in all three of the land-grant missions: research, extension and teaching.

When he started with the Division of Agriculture as an assistant professor in 2008, Nalley had an extension appointment.

“I have a deep passion for extension,” he said. “I’m really excited not only to strengthen our outreach programs, but also to promote the extension work we do in our department.”

Nalley highlighted a desire to strengthen the links between research and extension work in the department.

“I want faculty to be thinking that regardless of what your research is, it can be extended in some facet, to a stakeholder in Arkansas.”

Another goal of Nalley’s is to further promote the work being done by the Fryar Price Risk Management Center of Excellence, of which Andrew McKenzie is associate director, Fryar Endowed Professor in Risk Management.

“McKenzie is phenomenal,” he said. “The work he does is not just regionally great, it’s nationally and internationally great.

“It will be high on my list of priorities to highlight his work and the work of the Fryar Center to make it more visible, not just to the stakeholders of Arkansas, but nationally,” Nalley said.

Nalley has earned a litany of honors for his work, including three John W. White Awards — a 2013 team award; 2021 Outstanding Teaching Award, 2023 Research Award plus earning the Jack G. Justus Award for Teaching Excellence in 2017. 

International reputation

“Lanier Nalley has built an international reputation as a production economist,” Anderson said.

“One of the most impressive things about Dr. Nalley’s research program is that he really demonstrates how a faculty member can have global impact while working on problems that are relevant to stakeholders in Arkansas,” Anderson said. “He has made tremendous contributions to the Arkansas rice industry, particularly on global rice demand issues and on the economic impacts of new technologies. Dr. Nalley has amply demonstrated that he understands and values the university’s land-grant mission, and I have complete confidence in his ability to lead the department to new heights.”

Jean-François Meullenet, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, said that “Lanier has a proven track record of producing high quality research and supporting student success. He has done an admirable job as interim department head, and I am excited to continue working with him to advance our research mission and support our stakeholders.”

Jeff Edwards, dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, said “I’ve had the opportunity to work with Lanier as an interim over the past year. He brings an even-keeled approach to leadership and is a strong advocate for the students, faculty, and staff in the department. Lanier has been a valuable member of our Bumpers College team for a while, and it is exciting to see him transition to this new role full time.”

Edwards said that from an undergraduate enrollment perspective, agricultural economics is one of the largest academic departments in Bumpers College.

“I am pleased that we have someone with Dr. Nalley’s experience and student-focused perspective to lead the department. It is a big job and I am confident that Lanier is up to the task,” Edwards said.

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

Legislators express support for land-grant research, extension work in Arkansas

HARRISBURG, Ark. — Increasing funding for land-grant work in Arkansas agriculture may take some persuasion, considering how few legislators have ties to agriculture or understand the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s impact in every Arkansas county.

State Sen. Ron Caldwell of Wynne, one of the speakers at the Aug. 30 grand opening of the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center, said, “I think everyone’s surprised at how nice this facility really is. The real issue for us is to find out how much money it’s going to take to run this.”

State Sen. Ron Caldwell speaks during a joint meeting of the House and Senate ag committees on Aug. 30, 2024. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

“We have 100 House members and 35 in the Senate, and only about 10 percent of the legislature has rice in their district,” he said of the Arkansas Legislature. “In fact, out of 135 members in the Legislature, we only have one rice farmer: Senator Blake Johnson from Corning.

“We are committed to outreach and education,” Caldwell said. “One of the first outreaches we need to make is our own legislative elected officials, because they need to understand how important rice is to the state and to the country.”

Arkansas is the nation’s top rice grower, producing nearly half of the crop.

“It's amazing the economic impact rice has,” he said. “We as a legislature are going to do our best to fund the Division of Agriculture and our extension service.”

Deacue Fields talks to the joint ag committee about the economic impact of ag in Arkansas. Taken Aug. 30. 2024, at the grand opening of the NE Rice Research and Extension Center at Harrisburg, Arkansas. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Mary Hightower)

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is responsible for two of the three traditional land-grant missions: agricultural and food research through the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and outreach and knowledge transfer through the Cooperative Extension Service, which has offices in all 75 counties. The third mission, teaching, is conducted by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, which is part of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Before the grand opening ceremony, Deacue Fields, vice president-agriculture and head of the Division of Agriculture, gave a presentation about the division, its work, its funding and the return on investment to Arkansas’ economy.

Importance of ag research

Fields recalled that meeting while addressing the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees on Sept. 12.

“I was asked by someone at the meeting, ‘How does an institution — who has no tuition, who has no income stream, who can't be bonded — how do you build an 18-and-a-half million-dollar center?’

“It’s based on our relationships, our research reputation, and leveraging our resources, so our relationship with the state and our Rice Research and Promotion Board led to a $16 million investment in this center,” Fields said. “Our research reputation led to our industry partnering with us and adding additional funding for the building.”

Fields said the division also added $1 million to the project.

He underscored the importance of agriculture to the state’s economy and talked about the return on investment to the state. For example, ag contributes about $4,530/per capita to state’s economy.

“Farmers last year contributed $14 billion the state’s economy,” Fields said, noting that figure did not include the $450 million contributed by the forestry industry.

“From 2017 to 2022, Arkansas farm gate sales grew by $4.25 billion,” he said. “To put that in perspective, Louisiana's entire industry is $4.8 billion. So, our growth in five years almost totals Louisiana’s total industry.”

“We are able to document that the growth in the industry is highly correlated to the research and discoveries that have happened through the Division of Agriculture,” Fields said. “We did a benefit cost analysis strictly on rice. We estimate that $91 million annually going toward the economy from rice research. That’s a $28.5 to $1 benefit cost ratio.”

Caldwell urged his fellow lawmakers to pursue funding for the Division of Agriculture, noting the last recurring funds increase — $3 million annually — came in 2017.

“So, if we give them an increase, and maybe it will be [20] ’25 before they get this, it will be eight years since they had an increase,” Caldwell said. “Inflation is killing them. This is something we’re going to have to address. But the Legislature is going to have to take the ball and run with it.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter 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 us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.