The small conference room in the Central Alabama Farmers Co-Op was abuzz with conversations between men in button-down plaid shirts and blue jeans, cowboy hats and dirty ball caps, Wednesday afternoon as farmers and other agricultural workers assembled to hear from Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) Commissioner Rick Pate, who kicked off a statewide series of listening sessions with his visit to Selma.

The Black Belt Agriculture Listening Session, as the event was billed on the ADAI website, was designed to update the public on the department’s work and hear ideas from people in the fields.

Jimmy Holliman, President of the Dallas County Farmers Federation, introduced Pate at the start of the event.

“We consider him one of us,” Holliman said, noting that Pate grew up on a poultry and cattle farm in Lowndes County. “He’s done some great things and we’re looking for more great things to come.”

Pate noted that the genesis of the idea for the listening sessions across the state came from an urge to hear from folks on the ground about how the department’s programs were working out and what ideas agriculture workers might have to improve the department’s offerings.

Pate noted that many rural areas, particularly in the northern region of the state, are doing well, but that growth is not indicative of a boon for farms and farmers.

“Just because rural counties are doing well…it’s not being driven by traditional agriculture,” Pate said. “We struggle in Alabama. Our farmers struggle with commodity prices.”

Pate voiced support for President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war with China, which has resulted in multiple rounds of tariffs that have negatively impacted farmers across the county, saying it “had to be done,” but noted that some farmers might not survive it.

Pate also said that the United States should be “dominating the market for food and fiber.”

“I’m the one that talks and thinks about Alabama farmers every day,” Pate said. “It’s not just rural development to me.”

Ellie Watson, Director of the Sweet Grown Alabama program, updated those in attendance on efforts to brand Alabama-grown products to move them into the marketplace, prompting Pate to note that all over the state people are interested in buying local goods more than anything else.

ADAI Deputy Commissioner Hassey Brooks discussed the state’s industrial hemp program, which in its first year received 182 grower applications, approved 157 licenses and saw 126 farming operation plant the crop, as well as efforts to secure funding for a Disaster Block Grant program that will aid farmers in Alabama impacted by natural disasters.

Pate noted that the funding has been moving slow, but the department is still “cautiously…optimistic” that the funding will come through.