Loy wants to help farmers better understand their finances
“This is an industry that really needs somebody who's not from an ag background to come in and try to show the rest of the world that this is important.” — Ryan Loy
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
July 3, 2023
Fast facts
- Loy got first deep look at ag through FFA
- Focused on helping farmers better understand their finances.
(350 words)
(Newsrooms: With portrait of Loy)
LITTLE ROCK — When Ryan Loy first looked seriously at agriculture in high school, he saw an industry that was misunderstood.
Loy, a native of the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, became immersed in agriculture through the FFA program. He started in late June as an extension agricultural economist and assistant professor with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“I went to high school and I really didn't know what I wanted to do, but I saw this program called FFA and thought it was cool,” he said. There, he learned that “a lot of people think that their food just comes from the grocery store.
“This is an industry that really needs somebody who's not from an ag background to come in and try to show the rest of the world that this is important,” Loy said.
After high school, “I knew I wanted to stay in ag, but I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do,” he said.
It’s something Loy would discover in college.
He studied agribusiness at Oklahoma State University and worked as a teaching assistant for the Farm and Ranch Management course. It’s a course that would set his career path.
“People see these huge combines and nice big, green tractors and they think everyone is making money, but that’s not the case,” Loy said “It’s not easy to farm. It’s not easy to get that produce from the field to your store. It's not an easy task
“I realized that’s what I wanted to do — to be helpful to the producers,” he said.
Loy would earn his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Oklahoma State University and stayed on to earn both a master’s and Ph.D. in agricultural economics.
“The main thing I want to do is have the respect of the producers and they know I’m here for them,” Loy said.
Expect Loy to maintain a presence on social media, and on the winter production meeting circuit, among other things.
Loy said he’s fallen in love with Arkansas.
“I’m a big fisherman and a big hunter,” he said. “I fish every weekend. That’s what I do to relax. It’s been a fun time here, and I love it so much."
John Anderson, head of the agricultural economics and agribusiness department for the Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, said “we are thrilled to have Ryan joining the AEAB team as our newest extension faculty member.
“It is really difficult to find a well-trained economist who also has real-life experience in the world of farm financial management, but that is what we have in Ryan,” Anderson said. “He brings an outstanding tool kit as an economist along with the practical background to apply those tools to the tough problems that farmers and other agribusiness decision-makers face every day.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension
Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division
of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture,
visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen
agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption
of best practices. The Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work
within the nation’s historic land grant education system through the Agricultural
Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas
System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension
and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex,
gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital
or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and
is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu