The Annual Joint Membership meeting of the Louisiana Rice Council and the Louisiana Rice Growers Association will be held on Tuesday, February 10, at the Grand Marais Center, 919 North Lake Arthur Avenue, Jennings, LA 70546.  A trade show and reception will begin at 4 p.m., program presentations begin at 5:45p.m, followed by dinner. 

 

In addition to reports on major Louisiana rice export markets, USA Rice Federation staff will highlight activities in the international and domestic markets and government affairs issues impacting the industry.  Kevin Norton, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist, will be the keynote speaker and Dr. Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, will also be on hand to address issues of concern for the Louisiana rice industry.

 

On Wednesday, February 11, the Central Louisiana Rice Growers Association will hold their annual membership meeting at 11 a.m. at the Dean Lee Research and Extension Center in Alexandria.  USA Rice staff will repeat their reports and lunch will be served.  For more information, contact Phillip Lamartiniere, (318) 201-1132.

 

Then on Thursday, February 12, USA Rice staff reports will be delivered at the Northeast Louisiana Rice Growers Association Rice Forum, which begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Delhi Civic Center in Delhi, LA.  For more information, contact Keith Collins, kcollins@agctr.lsu.edu.

 

Contact:  Randy Jemison (337) 738-7009

 

"TPA is absolutely critical if the U.S. negotiators are to reach trade agreements that improve market access for U.S. rice," according to Bob Cummings, USA Rice's COO.   "Right now, the administration is focused on finishing up the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations.  For us, that means securing a deal with Japan for more imports of U.S. rice and less intervention in the import market by the Japanese government.  A TPA with a clear priority on agricultural market access will keep the focus on a comprehensive and meaningful agreement with Japan."

 

Congress will assess individual trade agreements, like TPP, against the provisions of TPA and vote up or down on implementing legislation.  TPA provides assurance to foreign countries that agreements reached with U.S. negotiators cannot be amended by Congress and, more importantly, provides clear negotiating direction to the President against which the deals his negotiators bring home will be measured.

 

Contact:  Kristen Dayton (703) 236-1464

WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales of 60,600 MT for 2014/2015 were up 86 percent from the previous week and 3 percent from the prior four-week average, according to today's Export Sales Highlights. Increases were reported for Colombia (31,500 MT), Honduras (8,800 MT, including 8,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), Saudi Arabia (6,000 MT), Jordan (5,000 MT), and Mexico (3,800 MT). Decreases were reported for unknown destinations (3,000 MT), Costa Rica (700 MT), and Guatemala (300 MT).

Exports of 60,600 MT were down 19 percent from the previous week and 24 percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Costa Rica (17,800 MT), Haiti (16,700 MT), Honduras (8,800 MT), Mexico (4,700 MT), and Guatemala (4,700 MT).

This summary is based on reports from exporters from the period January 23-29.