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USA Rice Daily
Up-to-the-Minute News on Issues and Activities
Monday, June 1, 2015

Rice Rocks Riverfest     

Riverfest rice swag 

LITTLE ROCK, AR -- The Arkansas Rice Council represented the rice industry as a sponsor of the annual Riverfest celebration held here over Memorial Day Weekend. Riverfest, the largest family festival held in Little Rock, served as an ideal platform to encourage the public to get rice on their minds -- and on their plates.

 

More than 250,000 people attended the festival, and the Arkansas Rice Council booth was a popular destination. As an event sponsor, the Arkansas Rice Council was able to communicate how important the rice industry is to the state of Arkansas. They shared Arkansas rice facts and hosted interactive games that allowed participants to win freebies like koozies, sunscreen, bumper stickers, and sunglasses holders.

 

"People know we grow a lot of rice in Arkansas, but they're usually surprised to learn it's more than half of all the rice grown in the U.S." said Tisha Gribble who represented the Arkansas Rice Council at the event. "And when I tell them that it's around 1.3 million acres, provides 25,000 jobs to Arkansans in rural areas of our state, and generates around six billion dollars for our state each year...their minds are blown!"

 

Contact:  Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446

Senator Wicker Addresses 80th Annual Delta Council Meeting    

Senator Roger Wicker

CLEVELAND, MS -- Roger Wicker, U.S. Senator for Mississippi delivered the keynote address at the 80th Annual Delta Council meeting here on May 29.  Wicker praised the Delta Council for the broad scope of their activities and the impact the organization has had in the region, and reaffirmed his commitment to Mississippi's agriculture industry which is deeply rooted in the Delta.  The annual event is widely attended and sponsored by a variety of agricultural organizations including the Mississippi Rice Promotion Board.

 

Members of Delta 1000 also heard from Jere Nash and Andy Taggart, co-authors of Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2006, who offered a "Red-Blue Review" of the 2015 campaign for state positions in Mississippi as a possible harbinger for the national elections in 2016.


USA Rice Federation Chairman Dow Brantley attended along with USA Rice staff and was impressed with the large crowd and high level of participation from key Mississippi leaders.

 

Brantley said, "This was my first Delta Council meeting and it was great to see all the rice grower leadership, and learn about the good work Delta Council does each and every year serving farmers and the community."

 

Contact:  Ben Mosely (703) 236-1471

Crop Progress:   2015 Crop 96 Percent Planted 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Ninety-six percent of the nation's 2015 rice acreage is planted, according to today's U.S. Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress Report.

Rice Planted, Selected States 
Week Ending
State
May 31,  2014   
May 24, 2015  
May 31, 2015 
2010-2014 average
Percent
Arkansas
98 
 92
96
97
California
94
 98
99 
94
Louisiana
100
        99
100
100
Mississippi 
92
 94
95
95
Missouri
98
78
87
97
Texas
99
84
85
99
Six States
99
93
96
98
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures   
CME Group (Preliminary):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for June 1

Month
Price
Net Change
July 2015
$9.650
+ $0.140
September 2015
$9.925
+ $0.140
November 2015
$10.200
+ $0.135
January 2016
$10.455
+ $0.135
March 2016
$10.635
+ $0.130
May 2016
$10.635
+ $0.130
July 2016
$10.635
+ $0.130

In the News

Around Washington

Conservation Client Gateway USDA NRCS

Conservation Client Gateway is a USDA public website that allows individual landowners and land users the secure ability to request conservation technical and financial assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

 

Washington Week Ahead: Trade, Regulations, Spending Top Lawmakers Agenda Agri-Pulse

Lawmakers face a long to-do list as they head into June, starting with finishing work on a fast-track trade bill, moving fiscal 2016 appropriations measures and addressing a variety of regulations that Republicans want to block.

 

 

Around the Country

Irrigation Educator Faces New Normal: Lower Aquifers and Higher Crop Production Arkansas Online

Mike Hamilton, the newly minted extension irrigation education area specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that despite Arkansas' reputation as a major agricultural production state, he had begun to feel that farmland that sometimes fell short of its full production potential might benefit from incorporating some simple irrigation management practices.

 

Rains Swamp Mid-South Crops Delta Farm Press

Rain and more rain continue to dominate Mid-South agriculture with delayed and prevented planting, delays to fertilization and applications of herbicides.

 

Rice Quality Concerns Create Hurdles for Industry Arkansas Business

Part of the problem with U.S. rice is that for every advantage of a rice variety developed specifically for a built-in trait, there is a disadvantage. A variety might increase yield, but that variety might not "mill" well, meaning that the kernels easily break into pieces. Many other rice-growing nations do not raise hybrid rice varieties. Many rice-exporting nations almost exclusively grow one variety that is popular in a particular export market.

 

 

Around the World

At World's Fair in Italy, the Future of Food is on the Table NPR

The theme of the latest World's Fair, Expo Milano 2015, is "feeding the planet, energy for life." The global population is projected to pass 9 billion by 2050, and Expo organizers want to start a global conversation now about sustainability, biodiversity and food security. With exhibits from 145 countries over a 12-million-square-foot area, the expo is a showcase for the many cultures of food and environmental technology.

 

 

Science and Technology

Seed Science Blossoms into Big Business Arkansas Business

In today's world of specific-trait, genetically modified and hybrid crops, seeds are worth their weight (at least) in gold, and in the span of a generation, seed costs have increased exponentially, but in many cases the resulting crops offset that input cost.

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