Matt King

Director of Public Affairs and Govermental Matt King Regulations

Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

  • King works with elected officials in both Washington D.C. and Little Rock to implement policies adopted by AFB membership; and works with various agencies at the state and national level to ensure regulations and rules adopted by the agencies do not harm farmers and ranchers in Arkansas
  • Agricultural Business, Arkansas State University (B.S. 2001); Agricultural Economics, University of Arkansas, Bumpers College (M.S., 2003)
  • DPC member since 2012

Q & A with Matt King:

Why agricultural business and agricultural economics?

I grew up working for my dad at the local farmer’s cooperative in Hot Springs. I knew I wanted to do something in ag business. I thought I would end up going back to the co-op system and working with him, however, my senior year my advisor encouraged me to visit with UA representatives on campus about grad school. I did and found I could potentially get paid to go to grad school! I was able to work it out. It was something I never thought I would do, but it was the best thing I ever could have done for my career.

What do you enjoy most about your job/career?

Getting to help the farmers and ranchers of Arkansas. As an advocacy organization, Arkansas Farm Bureau’s mission is to advocate for farmers, disseminate information and provide products for our members. We have the opportunity every day to do these things and try and improve the lives of our members across rural Arkansas.

Something others may be surprised to learn about your field?

The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation has a rich history of improving the lives of our members. While most know about our insurance company, we started to provide insurance to rural Arkansans that were having difficulty getting insurance, most are not aware of other things we have done. Farm Bureau helped provide seed money to start Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, our members and organization were instrumental in getting electric co-ops started in Arkansas, our organization started the ACRES program that was later sold and is now part of DTN (Data Transmission Network), and there are a host of other programs we helped start. These successes are a challenge to all of us as we try and create the next big thing at Farm Bureau.

Favorite quotes?

Glenn Beck, “Those who control the language control the argument and those who control the argument are more likely to successfully translate benefits into policy.”