Up close at John Deere

MOLINE, IL -- The 2014/16 Rice Leadership Development Program class began the week in Chicago at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), where the class met with Fred Seamon, Senior Director, Commodity Research & Product Development.  Seamon provided an overview on using the CBOT as a tool to reduce risk. 

"CBOT really opened my eyes to what is happening after the rice leaves my farm," said Derek Haigwood, a producer from Newport, Arkansas and class member. "I think we tend to concentrate so much on producing a safe and abundant crop and water and environmental stewardship, that we forget there are market forces beyond our immediate view, beyond our country even that can help a farmer who is paying attention, or hurt a farmer who doesn't know what to consider.  We've all added some new tools to our toolbox thanks to this program."

The class also visited the world headquarters here of program sponsor John Deere where they met with company executives and toured the combine factory.

This is the second of four week-long sessions in the two-year leadership program.  It includes personal development workshops on presentation skills, media training and business etiquette. The class will now travel to Arkansas and Mississippi to study those state's rice farming practices and processing industries.

The seven class members are rice producers Haigwood; Jeremy Jones, England, AR; Jon Munger, Yuba City, CA; Will Reneau, Beaumont, TX; and Clay Schaefer, Hunter, AR; and rice Industry representatives Jonathan Hobbs, Jefferson, LA with Russell Marine Group, and A.J. Sabine, Baton Rouge, LA with Louisiana Farm Bureau.

The Rice Leadership Development Program is sponsored by John Deere Company, RiceTec Inc. and American Commodity Company through The Rice Foundation and is managed by the USA Rice Federation.

Contact:  Chuck Wilson, (870) 673-7541

They're counting on what they have been promised

WASHINGTON, DC -- The USA Rice Federation joined 32 other national and regional agriculture groups urging House members not to use the Agriculture Appropriations bill to amend the 2014 Farm Bill. The House is considering

Fiscal Year 2015 Ag Appropriations this week, and the groups are opposing any amendments that would weaken or change provisions in the Farm bill or cause more uncertainty for farmers.

"Significant uncertainty remains due to the substantial reforms and budget reductions made by the Farm Bill," the groups say in the letter. "Congress must respect the importance of these decisions and allow the reforms included in the 2014 Farm Bill to achieve their full effect."  

"We are strongly urging all House members to honor the commitment made to farmers in the 2014 Farm Bill," said Reece Langley, USA Rice's vice president for government affairs. "Our producers are already dealing with enough uncertainty without Congress using the annual funding bill to rehash issues that were settled in the Farm Bill. Our focus now is on working with USDA to ensure fair and efficient implementation and we urge Congress to make that its focus as well."

Around Washington

 House Spending Bill Targets EPA's Water Jurisdiction The Hill

House Republicans' unveiled a $34 billion bill Monday prohibiting the Army Corps from using any funds to "develop, adopt, implement, administer or enforce any change to the ... definition of waters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act."

Around the Country
Conservation Work in Arkansas Makes Positive Impact Downstream USDA Blog

Trip report on several farms near Stuttgart, AR, working to clean and conserve water using conservation efforts, including the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

How to Manage Preflood Nitrogen Rice Fields in Wet Weather Delta Farm Press

With the latest round of wet weather to hit Arkansas, preflood nitrogen management in rice just became almost unmanageable.

Mid-South Rice This Week -- June 9, 2014 Delta Farm Press

Rains delay fertilization, flooding. Herbicide shortages. Sheath blight.

Science and Technology

Who is a Farmer's Best Friend? Owls! Oryza

For rice, Malaysian researchers found that one barn owl reduced rodent damage from 12% to less than 1% and covered an area of 10 hectares of rice fields.