Mississippi Rice Council Annual Meeting: What’s Done & What’s Next

CLEVELAND, MS – Torrential rain gave way to the annual Mississippi Rice Council meeting here yesterday with more than 30 growers hearing reports from Mississippi State, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Ducks Unlimited, and USA Rice.
 
Mississippi Rice Council President Kirk Satterfield thanked attendees and provided a quick overview of Mississippi Rice Promotion Board activities, including praising the hard work of Extension Agent Coordinator Laura Giaccaglia for the successful Annual Rice Tasting Luncheon, now in its 28th year and working with 14 restaurants in Bolivar County to ensure rice was featured on all their menus throughout National Rice Month.
 
Delta Research & Extension Center Rice Specialist Dr. Bobby Golden then walked through the work his office, researchers, and students are performing.  He reported that acreage trended up in 2018 but that yield remained somewhat flat.  He shared results of impact on yield for various herbicides and fungicides, and rice tolerance to other crop protection products.  Golden, who was just named to the Rice Leadership Development Program in December, also gave a first glimpse at planting projections, estimating state acreage would be around 130,000 acres this year.
 
Betsy Ward, president & CEO of USA Rice, thanked the Council for their continued support of USA Rice and updated attendees on key trade issues, including strong trade with Iraq thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iraq that USA Rice advocated for; the situation in China that could finally see some sales of U.S. rice to the huge nation; and the positive impacts of the U.S-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, that in addition to regular strong sales of rice has also sent more than $3.6 million to Mississippi for rice research over the past six years.
 
Ward also talked about the quick rise to dominance of U.S. rice in international food aid feeding programs thanks to fortified rice, and the partnership between USA Rice and USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) that helps promote U.S. rice overseas.
 
“In addition to receiving $4 million from FAS to fund our programs this year, we also advocated for and received additional relief for the rice industry that has been negatively impacted by the various trade disputes going on,” she said.  “We secured $48 million in additional rice purchases for domestic feeding programs and another $3 million over three years to support international efforts on behalf of rice.  We’re grateful to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue for this assistance, he has been a great friend to the rice industry.”
 
USA Rice Vice President of Domestic Promotion Michael Klein discussed the work his team is performing on behalf of the industry including last year’s Think Rice Road Trip that made several stops in Mississippi, promoting important nutritional research that the Mississippi Rice Promotion Board helped fund, fighting rice pretenders, and the very successful Foodservice Farm & Mill Tour that took place in Louisiana in 2018 and will come to Mississippi for 2019.
 
“My team and I are responsible for promotions in the single largest market for U.S. rice,” Klein said.  “We wake up every day and think about how we can make people eat more U.S.-grown rice.  Frankly, it’s a great job and we are excited to undertake it on your behalf.”
 
The 2018 Farm Bill, soon to enter the implementation phase, was the focus of USA Rice Vice President of Government Affairs Ben Mosely’s talk.
 
“Rice’s position in the new Farm Bill actually improved with enhancements to the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program and an expanded definition of family that can now qualify for assistance both of which were developed by the USA Rice Farm Policy Task Force that had dozens of calls and meetings and included Mississippi farmers Gibb Steele, Nolen Canon, and Kirk Satterfield,” he said.
 
Mosely also talked about the Rice Stewardship Partnership Program that has reaped great benefits for Mississippi, analysis of the sustainability record of the U.S. rice industry, and the newly launched USA Rice Conservation Program Search Tool that lives on the USA Rice website.
 
Paul Rodrigue from USDA-NRCS and Ducks Unlimited’s Dr. Scott Manley rounded out the program by encouraging attendees to consider enrolling in a Mississippi Surface Water Conservation Program that will provide financial and technical assistance to producers.
 
“It’s always great to be back in Mississippi, surrounded by friendly faces and sharing the important and exciting work we are doing on behalf of the industry,” Ward said.  “As always, we appreciate the time on the agenda and thoroughly enjoyed the other presentations as well.”