USA Rice Signs On to New Supply Chain Sustainability Program
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Arkansas rice farmer
Jennifer James
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WASHINGTON, DC -- A new agricultural supply chain program for U.S. commodity crops was announced today by Field to Market® (FTM), the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. Developed over the past several years, the FTM metrics and benchmarks are an important platform for measuring, promoting, and reporting on continuous improvement in rice and other crops related to seven sustainability indicators: land use, soil conservation, soil carbon, irrigated water use, water quality, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
"USA Rice participates in Field to Market as a way to encourage industry-wide improvements in productivity, environmental quality, and human well-being," said Jennifer James, an Arkansas rice farmer and chairman of the USA Rice Sustainability Task Force. "Producers appreciate the FTM program because it is science-based and focused on outcomes. Rice data compiled for the 2012 FTM report showed remarkable progress made by rice farmers between 1980 and 2011 to grow their crops sustainably."
The new FTM program will focus on benchmarking current sustainability outcomes, catalyzing continuous improvement at the field and landscape level, and enabling supply chain sourcing claims.
"Anyone involved in agriculture realizes the importance of measuring, monitoring, and conserving resources," said USA Rice President and CEO Betsy Ward. "The rice industry's commitment to this new Field to Market program is another way for us to collaborate with other commodity groups, rice end users, and food companies, and share best practices related to sustainability."
Contact: Reece Langley, (703) 236-1471
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| CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures |
CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough Rice Futures for July 8
| July 2014 | $14.845 |
+ $0.230
| | September 2014 | $13.700 |
+ $0.085
| | November 2014 | $13.890 |
+ $0.070
| | January 2015 | $14.085 |
+ $0.090
| | March 2015 | $14.275 |
+ $0.115
| | May 2015 | $14.400 |
+ $0.235
| | July 2015 | $14.455 |
+ $0.240
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