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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.
Monday, December 22, 2014

Rice and Ducks Media Camp           

 
If only they could fly like ducks 

GILLETT, AR -- The USA Rice Federation, Arkansas Rice Federation, Ducks Unlimited (DU), and Yamaha teamed up to put together a media camp focused on the relationship between working rice lands and wintering waterfowl last week.  Writers from Inter-media Outdoors, Agri-Pulse, American Hunter Magazine, Delta Farm Press, ATV Rider, and the Outdoor Channel enjoyed two morning hunts in rice fields near Stuttgart, Arkansas.   They were hosted at Buckshot Lodge and guided on their hunts by area rice growers.

 

Media members saw first-hand the crucial role winter flooded rice fields play in waterfowl survival.  Rice lands provide more than 35 percent of all food energy for dabbling ducks across the country, and more than half of the continental population of dabbling ducks winter in rice growing regions.

 

A study authored by DU scientists for The Rice Foundation found that the cost of replacing existing rice habitat with managed natural wetlands is more than $3.5 billion.  That's 3.5 times the original price tag of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

 

"It's pretty clear that we could not support desired populations of waterfowl without the habitat provided by winter flooded rice lands," DU Director of Conservation Innovation Scott Manley told the writers.

 

 
Brandon Bauman leads
the farm tour
 

In addition to seeing the habitat importance of rice lands, the media members were given a presentation and tour at Riceland mill and an on-farm tour by Brandon Bauman, an Arkansas rice farmer and member of the USA Rice Producers' Group Conservation Committee.

 

They all went home with a little taste of waterfowl hunting, a better understanding of rice agriculture, and a new appreciation for the relationship between rice and ducks.

 

Contact:  Andi Cooper, Ducks Unlimited, (601) 956-1936

GBI Program in Ghana Concludes with Cooking Competition             

 
The grand prize winner 
ACCRA, GHANA -- The USA Rice Federation conducted a cook-off competition with the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, and the American Peanut Council last week.  The competition attracted more than 300 foodservice caterers, the media, and a host of high profile dignitaries including the Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy-Accra, Ms. C. Pat Alsup and the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, who lauded the U.S. food groups for the initiative, and said it helped sharpen the skills of traditional caterers who are an important part of the hospitality industry.

 

Alsup said the United States is committed to delivering high quality, safe, and healthy food products to consumers all around the world. 

 

"It was an over-the-top event," said Kurt Seifarth, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Regional Agricultural Counselor in Lagos, who also attended.  "U.S. products working in traditional recipes is a great story."

 

Prior to the competition, regional foodservice seminars had been held in three major cities to educate and inform the artisanal caterers of the high quality attributes of U.S. rice, poultry, and peanuts.

 

The final cook-off featured nine contestants creating traditional menus using U.S. rice, poultry, and peanut butter.

 

Local media was quite interested in the event, extending the reach of the promotions to the consumer segment of the market.

 

Contact:  Eszter Somogyi, 011-49-40-4503-8667

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures   
CME Group (Preliminary):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for December 22


Month
Price
Net Change
January 2015$12.160
- $0.150
March 2015$12.385
- $0.145
May 2015$12.660
- $0.145
July 2015$12.825
- $0.125
September 2015$12.205
- $0.125
November 2015$12.165
- $0.125
January 2016$12.175
- $0.125

In the News

Around the Country

American Sets Himself the Goal of Producing High-Quality Sake in Arkansas  

Asahi Shimbun

Ben Bell was determined to stick to his goal of producing Japanese sake made of rice harvested in Arkansas for American consumers. Arkansas is one of the nation's largest rice-growing states.

 

Sierra Snow Pack Encouraging, But More Storms Needed to Keep it Deep  

Sacramento Bee

Buoyed by big December storms, the snow pack is about 150 percent of where it usually is at this time in the year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

 

 

Trade and Tariffs

Japan's Farmers Brace for Change Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made agriculture a key part of his pro-growth policies. The government is expected to draft legislation in the next couple of months that would transform the nation's powerful agricultural cooperatives and the way farmers do business.

 

New Optimism for China Trade Expansion, Improved U.S. Exports Agri-Pulse

In advance of the 25th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meeting in Chicago last week, there seemed to be an increased willingness to drop some of the long-standing roadblocks and increase cooperation.

 

Obama Says Opening to Cuba will take Years to Bear Full Fruit Bloomberg

A full lifting of the U.S. embargo on trade and travel would require action by Congress, where Cuban-American lawmakers have denounced Obama's action as a capitulation to the Castro regime

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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.