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USA Rice Federation is the global advocate of all segments of the U.S. rice industry with a mission to promote and protect the interests of producers, millers, merchants and allied businesses.
Friday, July 18, 2014

International Promotion Staff Participate in Africa GBI Planning Session 

 
Possibilities

ARLINGTON, VA. -- Yesterday, the USA Rice Federation International Promotion's Jim Guinn and Hartwig Schmidt participated in a joint planning session with more than seven other agricultural commodity groups and USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff from Washington, DC, South Africa, Dubai, and Ghana. 

 

The purpose of the planning meeting was to discuss and agree on a broad initiative to drive commercial agricultural exports from the U.S. to sub-Saharan Africa.  Funding for the initiative will be provided by the USDA/FAS Global Broad-based Initiative (GBI), a component of the Market Access Program (MAP), and will include trade policy/market access, capacity building, and promotions components. 

 

FAS has indicated a willingness and desire to fund this GBI in 2014.  Further discussion among the commodity groups will result in one or more proposals to FAS in the very near future.  In recent years, FAS annually set aside $5 million of the $200 million MAP budget for funding GBIs.

 

"Currently, the market for U.S.-grown rice in sub-Saharan Africa is essentially non-existent due to competition from Asia and prohibitive tariffs in some African countries," said Schmidt.  "We would support and participate in any initiative that would help us make inroads in this important and growing market."

 

Contact:  Jim Guinn, (703) 236-1474

Food for Peace Celebrates Sixty Years of Service  

 
Jamie Warshaw 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Last week, representatives from commodity groups, the food aid community, and maritime representatives celebrated 60 years of the Food for Peace Program.

 

Honorary co-chairs of the event Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) both noted the achievements of the bipartisan coalition that has supported this program throughout its rich history.  U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah thanked the food and maritime community for their dedication to end hunger throughout the world.

 

"The USA Rice Federation is proud of the work we do in support of Food for Peace," said Jamie Warshaw, a Louisiana rice miller and chairman of the USA Rice Food Aid Subcommittee.  "As the program celebrates this milestone, we commend them for linking rural America and the U.S. agriculture and transportation industries to communities in the developing world."

 

USA Rice has historically supported the Food for Peace Program and it continues to serve as a priority for their membership.

 

Contact:  Lauren Echols, (703) 236-1440

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures   
CME Group (Prelim):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for July 18


Month
Price
Net Change
September 2014$13.125
- $0.155
November 2014$13.350
- $0.140
January 2015$13.545
- $0.135
March 2015$13.710
- $0.135
May 2015$13.850
- $0.135
July 2015$14.030
- $0.135
September 2015$13.965
- $0.135


In the News 

Around Washington

USDA Withdraws from GMO Disclosure Rule The Hill

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is backing down from a GMO disclosure rule that would have provided state regulators with critical information about the genetically modified organisms that farmers use to spray their crops. The information farmers provide to the USDA is supposed to remain confidential, but if the agency shares it with state regulators that could be an issue.

 

 

Around the Country

$2.2 Billion Agriculture Loss in California May Shift Crop Insurance Purchases

Insurance Business America

The record-breaking drought in California has left many policyholders responsible for large portions of their losses because they opted for low levels of insurance coverage.

 

Storms Gets Headlines, But Drought is a Sneaky, Devastating Game-Changer  

National Geographic

Droughts are deliberate-a relatively slow evolution in which it can be difficult to capture the devastation in any one moment.

 

 

Trade and Tariffs

Adapt Trade Policy to Reflect Globalization, Economic Bodies Warn

Financial Times (subscription only)

Economists warn that governments are increasingly flirting with "local content" and other policies that are likely to prove self-defeating by making it harder to create jobs linked to global supply chains.

USA Rice Daily Index of Articles, July 14-17
Thursday, July 17
USA Rice Attends USAEDC Attach� Conference
USA Rice Merchants' Association Elects Officers, Board Members

Wednesday, July 16
USA Rice Working to Expand Rice Use in Schools

Tuesday, July 15
Arkansas Rice Producer Dow Brantley Elected Chairman of the USA Rice Federation

Monday, July 14
USA Rice Promotion in Turkey Coincides with Ramadan
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Mission Statement
USA Rice Federation is the global advocate for all segments of the U.S. rice industry with a mission to promote and protect the interests of producers, millers, merchants and allied businesses.
About Us
Editor: Michael Klein,
(703) 236-1458,
[email protected]

Fax (703) 236-2301

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This report is time-sensitive, based on information available at press time. Content is derived from facts and sources believed to be reliable. Reprinting and/or distribution may be done with permission of the USA Rice Federation

Copyright � 2014. Please direct comments or questions to the editor or contact name listed for each story.