LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The director of the Arkansas Plant Board has announced his retirement.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Terry Walker's retirement from the Arkansas Agriculture Department division was effective as of Tuesday.

The 70-year-old first joined the board in 2002 and has served as board director since 2016. Walker says he's proud of his work, noting how it grappled about 10 years ago with genetically modified rice by Bayer CropScience. It tainted other rice supplies, cutting into farmers' markets for their crops.

The board has been embroiled for two years in a farmla...