2025 USA Rice Outlook Conference Gets Rolling in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The 2025 USA Rice Outlook Conference, the largest rice conference in North America, returned to the Crescent City this week with a grand opening reception welcoming farmers, millers, merchants, end-users, exporters, academics, government officials, and special guests.
“Today and tomorrow are jam-packed with presentations, break-out sessions, state reports, the Annual Awards Luncheon, and lots of meeting and greeting in between,” said USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann. “We have more than 50 presenters over a day and half educating and entertaining attendees on everything from gene editing in agriculture, the 2026 farm economy, rural mental health, the regulatory outlook, and much more!”
As always, the Grand Opening Reception took place in the 14,000 square foot Exhibit Hall, home to three education stages: the FMC Stage, the Nutrien Ag Solutions Stage, and the Anheuser-Busch Stage. Also in the hall, is the Choose Beer Grown Here Bar from Budweiser where attendees can drink their rice in the form of products from Anheuser-Busch, along with a booth devoted to Harvest Rush, a virtual reality game that debuted in the Mexico market earlier this year and has been played by more than 17,000 consumers in the industry's top market.
The USA Rice Daily will report on conference highlights all week, including the just-added Mardi Gras One-Mile Fun Run designed to get your heart, feet, and mind racing and help you work off the rich and wonderful food New Orleans is known for. Runners will meet USA Rice’s Sarah Moran and Asiha Grigsby in the hotel lobby on Tuesday morning at 6:45.
Moran guarantees this is just for fun. "Come jog, walk, or dance the route. There are no timing chips, pressure, or medals.”