Ag conference keynote speaker got her start at A-State

Dr. Bert Greenwalt, a professor of agriculture economics at Arkansas State University, and a group of professionals were attending a business conference in the early 1990’s when they had an epiphany. A-State was founded in 1909 as an agriculture college and it needed a marquee conference to celebrate it.

More than 30 years later, the idea they brainstormed, the A-State Agribusiness Conference, is still pulling agriculture stakeholders to Jonesboro from around the Delta each year, Greenwalt told Talk Business & Politics. At this year’s conference held Wednesday (Feb. 7), there were an estimated 375 people who attended all or part of the conference.

“We’re very pleased with the turnout,” he said. “Our speakers did an excellent job.”

The keynote speaker for the event was Dana Brooks, CEO of the Pet Food Institute based in Washington D.C., an organization that advocates for the pet food industry. Brooks has a special connection to the conference. She was Greenwalt’s student assistant at the first conference held 30 years ago, she said.

“I changed majors like five times when I was in college,” she said. “I wanted to go into education, I wanted to be a coach. I majored in business for a while … I finally landed in the agriculture business. I never told my dad that I changed my major. He didn’t find out until the day I graduated,” she said with a laugh.

Tragically, her father lost his life at the age of 48 more than a year after she graduated in a farm accident.

At Greenwalt’s behest, Brooks dove into a career tackling agriculture issues. She worked as an intern with Richard Bell, the former CEO at Riceland Foods and former USDA official. In 2000, she was hired to be then U.S. Rep. Marion Berry’s legislative assistant.

“I’m clearly a passionate person, especially when I’m doing something I love,” she said. “I went to Washington D.C. to support farm issues.”

One of her objectives was to improve the Farm Bill, which Congress typically passes every five years. Congress was slated to pass a new Farm Bill last year, but it’s still on hold.

Through the years, she has advocated for many farm-related issues from catfish farming to dairy production policies. In 2009, she was part of a group that wanted to make significant changes to dairy production policies in the U.S.

She had two formidable opponents. The then U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and then Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, opposed her efforts.

Brooks said she and her small group met with every single member of the committee and other congressional leaders. It took awhile, but they were able to get changes made to dairy policy in that Farm Bill and those changes are still in place today, she said.

The pet food industry is similar to the work she did advocating for changes in human food policies, she said. One major challenge was that she was named CEO of her organization right before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.

There are myriad challenges that face the pet food industry right now, she said. Sourcing ingredients is always a challenge. There has been contention between environmentalists who want to use those fats for fuel, while people in the pet food industry want it to be used for pet foods, she said.

On the positive side for her cause, tariffs on aluminum and steel have been lifted. Aluminum is used as a container for many pet foods, and that will help to regulate costs better, she said.

These and many other issues are tough to deal with, but Brooks said she has found the right position for her.

“I’m blessed that it’s pets … people love their pets,” she said.