Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach was the guest speaker at Monday's Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the Holiday Inn.
A third-generation farmer, Veach spoke about the importance of the agricultural industry on a national level and a global level.
"Not only is agriculture the foundation of my own family," said Veach. "It is the foundation of Mississippi County. It's the foundation of our state. It's the foundation of our nation. It's the foundation of this world"
Veach also touched on the importance of having not only safe borders between the United states, Canada and Mexico, but having an efficient policy as well.
"Safety trumps everything else when it comes to our boarders. Especially after 9-11," said Veach. "But when you have trucks carrying perishable goods across the borders, every moment counts. That's why we need to have a policy that creates a smart, secure and efficient border."
Veach said that keeping good trade practices with Canada and Mexico are vital to our economic stability. Canadians spend $475 a year on goods that come from the United States, he said. Mexico is an extremely important trading partner in the agricultural industry because the average Mexican family spends 45 percent of its annual income on food.
Veach said that another large potential trading partner in the future could be Cuba.
"Before Castro took over, Cuba was our No. 1 trading partner in products such as poultry and rice. If we could establish a way to go back to Cuba, we would be opening up an extremely large market for agriculture."
Veach finished by talking about how the current financial crisis as been affecting every industry on a global level.
"I look at our financial crisis as a large chasm. Right now, there are a lot of people trying to measure the chasm. How wide is the chasm? How deep is it? Instead, we need to try to build a bridge across that chasm. That is the only way that we will conquer the financial crisis."