LITTLE ROCK — Hunter Biram has been named associate director of the Southern Risk Management Education Center, effective June 15.
The new role is in addition to his current duties as assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the University of Arkansas and as extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The Southern Risk Management Education Center, housed within the Division of Agriculture, is one of four centers nationwide whose mission is to educate farmers and ranchers to manage the unique risks of producing food. The center is funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The center has served nearly 1 million individual farmers and ranchers in the southern region, empowering them with the skills and tools to effectively manage risk. The southern region encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“I am excited to have Dr. Biram join our leadership team,” said Ron Rainey, center director and assistant vice president for the Division of Agriculture. “His appointment allows the center to leverage Hunter’s expertise and experience in policy and crop insurance. SRMEC will be able to enhance the depths of our outreach programs.”
Biram brings plenty of experience to the job. He grew up in Floral, Arkansas, working on a diverse family farm operation consisting of a cow-calf herd, broiler chickens, a greenhouse nursery and peach orchard. His applied research and extension program focuses on agricultural production and price risk management using federal crop insurance and commodity programs in the farm bill.
"As associate center director, I plan to raise the profile of and elevate the need for extension risk management education across the Southeast region,” Biram said. “It has become quite clear the need exists for risk management education for producers managing risk with federal crop insurance, especially those who are historically underserved. Additionally, I plan to improve measuring extension scholarship for my colleagues across the region so we can better tell our story as extension specialists to the institutions we serve our states with."
Biram has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Arkansas State University; a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University; and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University.
Biram will work with Rainey and Erica Fields, an associate center director responsible for overseeing the center’s financial operations.
