This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the act of Congress that designated September as National Rice Month (NRM), a month-long celebration of U.S.-grown rice honoring the more than 125,000 individuals responsible for producing, milling, handling, and processing this top quality, nutritious, and sustainable crop, including thousands of family farms that contribute millions of dollars to their local economies.

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its annual Pesticide Monitoring Program Report for Fiscal Year 2020. The report found that over 96 percent of domestic-made human foods were compliant with federal standards for pesticide tolerances set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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In 2013, forward-thinking member leaders of USA Rice had the foresight to formally establish the Rice Stewardship Partnership (RSP). This partnership, anchored by USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited, was a first-of-its-kind conservation delivery team focused on voluntary working lands conservation led by a farmer advisory committee with representatives in each rice-growing state.

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Al Awees, the purchasing entity in Iraq, has just purchased another 44,000 tons of U.S. long grain rice, completing the terms of the USA Rice-Al Awees Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 2021-2022 year.

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In 1962, the United States Government extended an embargo on trade with Cuba to include food and agricultural products, thus eliminating what was then the No. 1 export market for U.S. rice producers.

Six decades have passed, and with only slight changes the embargo remains in place. Last year, the United States shipped 200 metric tons of rice to Cuba, which imported 450,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and other sources.

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Harvest is underway in the southern states, and the good news is, the theme seems to be promising yields from early reports. However, depending on where you are, untimely rain showers are causing some issues in keeping up with the early harvest schedule.

In Louisiana, harvest got off to a quick start, but afternoon showers have caused many growers some frustration in trying to stay on track. One farmer said it took him five days to harvest 80 acres. Eric Unkel, who farms near Kinder LA, said “Things were going fairly well for the first few days, then we started getting the showers like everyone else, and spent two days trying to get more than a hopper cut before being interrupted!”

Christian Richard, harvesting north of Kaplan, LA, said, “It looks like the yields are going to be good, but a few of these heavy showers have caused some lodging, so overall it’s a day to day challenge to keep things moving. We had a great growing season, have a really good crop in the field, and really need to get it out of the field.”

Rice harvest in northeast Louisiana should begin in two to three weeks.

To the west, harvest has gotten started in Texas as well. L.G. Raun near El Campo reported that the first few fields were showing good to average yields, although some fields were limited by grass escapes; however, disease and insect pressure have been low, which bodes well for quality. Weather and field conditions have been great for harvest thus far. He added that this is the worst drought he has seen for the first seven months of a year, which is severely impacting pastures and dryland row crops in the area.

Terry Hlavinka reported that early yields seem encouraging in the area, with average to above average yields. He also said that the area was getting showers for the first time in 75 days, which can impede harvest but overall is greatly needed in the region.

Traci LaChance, Production Planning Manager at RiceTec, said, “RiceTec seed production is a little over 20% harvested in Texas. Danbury and Bay City are closer to 30% and we are at our peak harvest level the next 10-14 days. We are really anxious to get this crop in the bins.”

East of Houston, Dorsey Jones with Helena in Raywood reported that only about 2% of the rice in his area was harvested as of last Friday, and afternoon showers are slowing progress as folks attempt to get started. He said early yields appear promising.

Florida produces over 20,000 acres of rice in the Everglades Agricultural area south of Lake Okeechobee. Daniel Cavazos is Director of Rice & Organic Farming with Florida Crystals. He said that 28% of their 20,000 acres has been harvested. He said that both organic and conventional production is yielding well and quality is quite good, with the exception of the medium grain, which milled fairly poorly.

Tim Walker with Horizon Ag spent a few days last week in the Louisiana and Texas rice regions. He said, “Overall, all pure line varieties and hybrids appear to be yielding quite well with the normal outliers. I am very pleased to hear of high and stable yields of PVL03, the new Provisia variety.”

Hunter Bowman, Mississippi rice specialist, said the first fields there were drained last week so harvest is about two weeks away. Garrett Williams with Producers Rice mill in Stuttgart, Arkansas said harvest should begin within a week on the earliest planted rice in that area. Harvest in Missouri should begin in early September and California will begin harvest a little later.

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