Arkansas Farm Bureau President Stanley Reed has been named chairman of a six-member Input Cost Review Panel announced at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

The panel will identify available resources for reducing costs, survey the regulatory environment to pinpoint any opportunities for relief, and identify financial planning and risk management tools to enable producers to better manage production costs and maximize their returns.

“A firestorm of economic uncertainty, fueled by skyrocketing production costs, will hit many of America's farmers and ranchers this spring,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “With higher costs for energy prices, crop inputs and interest rates converging during our key spring planting season, this panel will consider steps that could be taken to provide relief during this expected period of extreme economic difficulty.”

Reed, a farmer from Marianna, Ark., is one of two mid-southerners on the panel. Other members include: Lacy Upchurch, president of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation; Scot VanderWal, South Dakota; Bob Peterson, Ohio; Alex Drowse, Massachusetts; and Alan Foutz, Colorado.