Despite the many challenges of 2022, the October USDA production forecasts released during harvest did not paint the grim picture many were dreading. For the Midsouth area, average yields of major row crops were down, as most would expect.
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The 26th Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference, the Southern Soybean & Corn Conference, the Delta States Irrigation Conference and the Southern Precision Ag Conference are headed to Baton Rouge, LA. The conferences are sponsored by Cotton Incorporated and US Rice Producers Association.
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Louisiana-based JT Meleck Distillers has launched the ‘first’ commercially available American whiskey to be made 100% from rice.
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This past weekend, avid birders and ornithologists from across the country and across “the pond” descended on southwest Louisiana for the 14th Annual Yellow Rails and Rice Festival. Participants from 29 states and the United Kingdom took to the rice fields near here for the chance to catch a glimpse of the elusive Yellow Rail.
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While just about everyone in South Louisiana knows that every Monday is red beans & rice day, Oct. 24 will now be recognized as the “official” day for the dish by the State of Louisiana.
Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a proclamation Monday (Oct. 24) morning on the steps of the State Capitol to officially recognize the day.
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A lot goes into putting on the Rice Festival and it all begins with the rice industry.
The life of the rice starts with the life of the farmer and as farmer Paul Zaunbrecher told News 10 that “it’s got to be something you love.”
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As we approach Rice Festival weekend in Crowley, let's take a trip back in time courtesy of some really slick photo editing and colorization.
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Dr. Ronnie Levy, the rice specialist at the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter, has been chosen as the 85th International Rice Festival Honoree. Dr. Levy was honored at the festival’s Queen’s Ball and Honoree Social on Saturday, October 8. The festival kicks off here starting tomorrow, October 20, through Sunday, October 23. The International Rice Festival is the largest community-based festival in Louisiana and celebrates the entire Louisiana rice industry.
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This month’s 2022/23 U.S. corn outlook is for reduced supplies, greater feed and residual use, lower exports and corn used for ethanol, and smaller ending stocks. Corn production is forecast at 13.895 billion bushels, down 49 million on a reduction in yield to 171.9 bushels per acre. Corn supplies are forecast at 15.322 billion bushels, a decline of 172 million bushels from last month, as lower production and beginning stocks are partially offset by higher imports.
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It’s “Monday’s favorite meal.”
A Louisiana tradition that dates back to the 19th century is still alive and Governor John Bel Edwards has officially declared October 24 as “Red Beans & Rice Day.”
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This year’s rice harvest in southwest Louisiana could be the costliest and possibly one of the more frustrating ones for many farmers in what could have been a banner year in the industry.
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Since Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s September announcement that he was ending subsidies for fuel, violent protests and an uptick in gang violence has ravaged the country. This is an escalation of the violence, kidnappings, and theft of food, fuel, and other goods that have been a part of everyday life here since last year’s assassination of Haitian President Moise. U.S. rice exports have been, taken by gangs directly off ships, off trucks after discharging at port, and even taken from humanitarian warehouses.
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Elton Kennedy came from a family of ministers in rural northeast Louisiana, but he always wanted to be a farmer. When given the chance to lease land with an option to buy in the town of Mer Rouge, he turned to the plow. He farmed his first rice crop in 1969, and over the years, his bulk-rice companies, Kennedy Rice Dryers and Kennedy Rice Mill, grew to include an average of 60 growers per year working over 15,000 acres. But to him, it was a family business all along. "I always thought that I would have a son to take over one day," Elton says. "As it turned out, having four daughters worked out just the same."
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While insiders know U.S.-grown rice is one of the most sustainable and responsibly grown crops in the world, telling that story to those who are unaware is increasingly important. To help recognize the crop’s unique environmental qualities and the women and men who improve rice’s sustainability every day, USA Rice launched a Sustainability Award in 2018 to identify and promote prime examples.
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Last month USA Rice received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cochran Fellowship Program (CFP) to host Central American rice industry professionals on a tour through rice growing regions in the mid-south. The primary goals of the CFP, named after the late U.S. Senator William Thad Cochran from Mississippi, are to aid in developing agricultural systems in the Fellows’ home countries and to strengthen and enhance agriculture trade linkages with the United States.
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