ARLINGTON, VA – The sustainability record of U.S.-grown rice is without parallel, but communicating the industry’s commitment and success stories can be just as challenging as reaching environmental goals in the first place. To that end, USA Rice commissioned a short animated film to help deliver key messages, releasing
“Biodiversity and Rice” today, in conjunction with National Ag Day.
“We’ve been working on this project for a long time but we wanted to get it right,” said David Petter, an Arkansas rice farmer and chair of The Rice Foundation, the educational arm of the U.S. rice industry. “We utilized a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to highlight, in simple terms, the connection between rice farming and wildlife habitat.”
The video is 1:19 and starts with a family enjoying U.S.-grown rice before transitioning to a rice farm that features egrets, raptors, ducks, and other animals as the narrator explains the symbiotic relationship between rice and birds, and the value of wildlife habitat rice farms offer.
“This is definitely a departure for us, but there’s so much competition for people’s attention, we wanted to try something new,” said Michael Klein, USA Rice vice president of communication and domestic promotion. “We spent a lot of time looking for an animator who understood what we wanted, that U.S. rice is in harmony with nature and that makes it a uniquely sustainable crop. It’s our hope that the animation captures people’s imagination and interest and they begin sharing it on social media.”