Rice requires an aquatic environment to grow and as an aquatic grass acts as a natural buffer strip leaving water cleaner when it exits a field than when it enters the field. We support regulations for safe water quality based on sound science that consider all contributing sources of pollution with the implementation of voluntary best management practices in situations where standards are exceeded. 

To conserve a resource crucial to the production of rice, the industry has worked to support the development and voluntary adoption of efficient irrigation techniques.

We support research and development programs and activities by USDA and the land grant university system to develop improved production and management practices to increase the resource use efficiency of rice production and the voluntary adoption of these practices by growers.

Recent News

  • Headed rice in standing water, LSU photo New WOTUS Rule Available for Comment

    Feb 21, 2019

    A new rule was published last Wednesday, February 13, to revise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers definition of what is considered a Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. Full story
  • Water pouring out of large metal pipe, flooding AR rice field Revised Definition of Waters of the U.S. Announced

    Dec 13, 2018

    At a public event held Tuesday at EPA headquarters, EPA’s Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the imminent publication of a new definition for Water of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act to replace the 2015 WOTUS rule. Full story
  • FDA round table discussion in Mississippi, group seated around large wooden table covered with papers Rice Matters at FDA Discussion

    Nov 09, 2018

    Last week the Mississippi Farm Bureau hosted Dr. Stephen Ostroff, deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for an agricultural roundtable to discuss a range of recent FDA regulations. Full story