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The nation’s top agriculture lobby leader visited Northwest Arkansas on Friday (July 22) to present the state’s senior senator with its highest congressional honor.

For his focus on agriculture and the economy, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., of Rogers received the Golden Plow award from American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall during a luncheon at the Arkansas Farm Bureau’s mid-summer Officers & Leaders conference at the Rogers Convention Center.

Boozman is the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He is in his second term as senator after five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. The senator is a 10-time Friend of Farm Bureau, which is awarded to members of Congress who have supported Farm Bureau’s policy positions.

“For two decades, Senator Boozman has demonstrated his commitment to agriculture and farmers across the country. His unwavering support for hardworking farm families has earned him Friend of Farm Bureau award for 10 consecutive sessions, so presenting him with the Golden Plow award seems only natural,” Duvall said. “Senator Boozman knows the key to good policy is consensus. He’s willing to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers while ensuring America’s families continue to enjoy a stable food supply.”

Arkansas Farm Bureau Rich Hillman, a rice farmer from Carlisle, nominated Boozman for the award.

“Senator John Boozman is a champion for agriculture,” Hillman said. “Our nation’s farmers and ranchers could not be better served than we are with John Boozman leading agriculture policy efforts in the U.S. Senate. He epitomizes the spirit of the Golden Plow award.

Boozman, up for re-election in the fall, is the third Arkansas lawmaker and first Republican to earn the Golden Plow, following Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., (1989) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. (2008). Boozman faces Libertarian Kenneth Cates, Democrat Natalie James, and Independent Stuart Shirrell in the November general election.

Winter weather delayed the AFBF’s plans to present the award to Boozman earlier this year.

“This truly is an honor,” Boozman said. “I’m a guy who believes the best ideas come from the ground up, which is why the voices of the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Arkansas Farm Bureau carry so much weight in my book. We have stood side by side on numerous battles over the years, and I can tell you those outcomes would have been much different had the Farm Bureau not been there. I will always rely on the Farm Bureau’s input to guide our policy decisions in Washington.”

The Arkansas Farm Bureau conference attracted about 500 leaders to Rogers. The Farm Bureau promotes agriculture and advocates for roughly 190,000 farm families throughout Arkansas. Its membership is the 8th largest in the U.S.

Read the full story from Talk Business & Politics