Attendees at the 2021 USA Rice Outlook Conference got a sneak preview of the new USA Rice virtual Foodservice Farm & Mill Tour that’s now posted on the USA Rice website. The annual tour showcases where and how rice is grown in the U.S. and conveys the importance of sourcing domestically grown rice within foodservice operations and was pushed online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Importers from Latin America who attended the 2021 USA Rice Outlook Conference were invited to a special session, the U.S. Rice Quality Symposium ll, where breeders from five U.S. rice research institutions and three private companies presented 18 newly-developed U.S. rice varieties.

One of the most important sessions at the 2021 USA Rice Outlook Conference was the Cybersecurity session that should have served as both a wakeup call and a cautionary tale for anyone who goes on the internet. Ever.

The capacity audience at the Corteva Agriscience stage listened rapt as Greg Beck, senior vice president at Consolidated Grain and Barge Company (CGB), recounted the story of how cyber criminals took control of some of their facilities, forcing a system wide shut down.

More rice production can be produced while minimizing the crop’s environmental impact, new research suggests. And that’s important with global population projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and with demand for rice on the rise.

A team of global researchers that includes Ted Wilson, director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont, have studied yield gap and resource-use efficiency across 32 of the world’s top-producing rice cropping systems. These systems account for 70% of the rice-harvest area and 51% of rice production globally. Their research is highlighted in an article published in Nature Communications

The EPA has registered Rogue SC, a rice herbicide from Gowan Co., LLC for use on flooded rice in three Midsouth/Delta states — Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri. Registration is also pending for Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, according to the company’s website.

Rogue SC is a broad-spectrum herbicide, controlling key grass, broadleaf, aquatic and sedge species in rice. In 2019-2020, Rogue received experimental use permits in Arkansas and Louisiana. Also, in April 2021 Rogue SC received a Section 18 emergency exemption to be applied in Arkansas to combat the spread of weedy rice. That exemption expired in August.

USA Rice joined with more than 60 agriculture organizations on a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week regarding farmers’ access to H-2A agricultural guestworkers, including workers from South Africa.

As the end of 2021 quickly approaches, the US South's rice market will start the new year with various concerns on the horizon.

The most talked about and the most immediately pressing is the recent hike in fertilizer prices. Fertilizer costs have hit all-time time highs in recent months, with it widely believed this will limit planting.

Every year, thanks to the generous support of the American Commodity Company, USA Rice awards $15,000 to young people from the six rice-growing states who use video to tell a unique story about rice.

This year’s grand prize scholarship winner, Josefine Sedler, used rice as art to create her award-winning video, “California Rice & Wildlife,” that explores some of the many creatures sustained by the habitat rice fields provide in her home state.

Among the breakout sessions at the recent USA Rice Outlook Conference was a panel on the rising cost of crop inputs.

The panel, moderated by Arkansas rice farmer Mark Isbell, was made up of Dr. Joe Outlaw, Texas A&M University economist and co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center, economist Jason Troendle from The Fertilizer Institute, and Hunter Carpenter from the Agricultural Retailers Association.

The U.S. rice industry bolsters our longstanding commitment to conservation and sustainability each year by recognizing industry leaders to showcase their stewardship efforts in preserving wildlife habitat and efficient use of natural resources.

The USA Rice Distinguished Conservation Award was established more than a decade ago by California rice grower Al Montna during his chairmanship of USA Rice.