Agricultural News
Oklahoma Farm Report Names Blayne Arthur as the 2019 Oklahoma Ag Person of the Year
Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:51:52 CST
As 2019 comes to a close- the Oklahoma Farm Report is pleased to announce that our 2019 Ag Person of the Year in the Oklahoma Farm and Ranch Community is Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur. Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays wrote about Secretary Arthur's year in the Monday Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News mail on Monday- here is that article:
"We first learned that Governor Kevin Stitt had chosen Blayne Arthur to be his Secretary of Agriculture in mid December last year- and we had the first media interview with her as the Governor was making his selection public. She became the first female to ever hold the office in the state's history. Arthur was serving at this time a year ago as the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation's Executive Director and prior to that, served as Deputy Commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry under outgoing department head, Jim Reese, after being hired by his predecessor Terry Peach.
"Click or tap here for that first story and interview with the nominee.
"A hundred days into her service as the Secretary of Agriculture- we sat down with Arthur- and you can hear and read more in that story by clicking or tapping here- She told us "I'm certainly very excited that we're making some progress. I don't know that we're making as much progress as I would like to see as quickly as I'd like to see it. But we have had some great success from an animal health perspective," she said, alluding to the department's recent collaboration with the Kansas Department of Agriculture on a traceability project. "I think that will be a great opportunity for us to learn a lot and decide how we can best approach things in regard to the electronic identification of cattle."
"Later in 2019- we had the opportunity to feature our Secretary of Ag in our Road to Rural Prosperity Podcast series- you can listen to it by clicking or tapping here.
"Why Secretary Arthur for this special tip of the hat? Well, as we sat down and went over all the stories that we have covered over the course of 2019- there have been some really outstanding leaders that have surfaced- but her ability to be the face of agriculture in the Kevin Stitt Administration has been a constant throughout 2019- from her confirmation hearings and her interactions with lawmakers in the 2019 Legislative session to her touring eastern Oklahoma's flooding areas to being accessible to the many different ag groups where she has appeared at their meetings, spoken to their membership and interacted with dozens and dozens of producers and folks who live in both rural and urban Oklahoma.
"The Secretary has done all of the public facing events with a smile on her face and a composed response to questions she has faced.
"At the same time- she has navigated the internal aspects of the job- being the Secretary of Ag, the Commissioner of Ag and the President of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture. She also sits on the School Land Commission and the OSU Board of Regents.
"We have known Blayne for a lot of years- and as we talked with her last December- we asked how she hoped to juggle her family like with this demanding role- she told us that she and her husband Jerrold had talked about that- "Within our family, we've got God first, and then our family and then our career follows that."
"I will say that she has lived up to those words- based on what I have seen here in 2019- and I am proud to congratulate Secretary Blayne Arthur on a great 2019- and wish her an even better 2020!"
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