In the opinion of U.S. Congressman Rick Crawford, holding this type of meetings on a regular basis constitutes progress, although “we are still not where we would like to be”.
For any country in the world, food security is an essential component of national security, the legislator, who appreciated the growing support within the United States for agricultural initiatives in favor of regularizing economic and trade relations with the island, said.
Read MoreThe invasive Apple Snail was recently found in a live crawfish shipment coming from Louisiana to Arkansas. Experts say while there may not be an immediate concern for rice farmers currently, land owners and crawfish enthusiasts alike should be aware of the snails and alert Arkansas Game and Fish if they spot any of the invasive species.
Read MoreCaroline Hardy has joined the USA Rice team as a government affairs intern and will be working out of the Arlington office until she begins a law clerkship in Louisiana later this summer.
A Louisiana native, Caroline earned her B.S. from McNeese State University in agribusiness in 2021 and is entering her final year at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
Read MoreHorizon Ag is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. María Guadalupe Montiel for the newly created position of Rice Breeder for the company’s independent lab located at the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter Rice Research Station at Crowley.
The position was created as part of a recent partnership between Horizon Ag and the LSU AgCenter to support enhanced collaborative breeding efforts. In her new role, Dr. Montiel will have access to the AgCenter’s elite rice-breeding germplasm, and any new varieties released by Horizon Ag will be in addition to the AgCenter’s breeding activities.
Read MoreFor those of us in South Louisiana, we sometimes wince a little whenever we see videos pop up online from out-of-town YouTubers documenting their travels to Acadiana.
Not because we don't want them down here, but mainly because we're never sure what sort of light the video will show us in.
Admittedly, for people not from here, there's a whole lot about our lifestyle and culture that some people seem to misunderstand.
Read MoreThis week, industry leaders representing the rice farmer, merchant, and milling sectors traveled here to meet with Washington trade experts and advocate for leveling the global playing field on trade. USA Rice members also shared industry priorities for the next Farm Bill during talks with legislators on Capitol Hill.
The fly-in focused on the Biden Administration’s trade agenda; the current state of the World Trade Organization (WTO); challenges with domestic rail transportation; food aid during a time of war; interagency discussions about the financing situation in Iraq; food safety and pesticide regulatory issues; and advocacy for USDA trade promotion and market development programs.
It hasn’t been that long ago that the only way to irrigate rice was to build a system of levees strong enough to keep water at a prescribed depth on a field until it was ready to be drained and harvested.
Fast forward to 2024 and rice farmers now have seven, eight or possibly even nine systems, depending on how you count them, for keeping their crops watered during the long Midsouth growing season.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter is partnering with Horizon Ag, a seed marketing and variety development company, to initiate a new rice breeding program focused on varieties for southern rice-producing areas, which include Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter was recently awarded a $1 million grant to focus on specific Best Management Practices in sugarcane and rice that address reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving soil health. Three rice farms in Vermillion parish are participating in this project to determine the effectiveness and impact of these practices compared with a more conventional production system.
Read MoreAs U.S. rice farmers rush to finish planting their 2024 crop, one of their largest export markets is at risk because of financial restrictions placed on banks that would normally provide dollars for U.S. rice shipments to Iraq.
Read MoreSeveral types of conventional cancer therapies, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy, destroy healthy cells along with cancer cells. In advanced stages of cancer, tissue loss from treatments can be substantial and even fatal. Cutting-edge cancer therapies that employ nanoparticles can specifically target cancer cells, sparing healthy tissue.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter is Louisiana rice farmers’ MVP, or most valued partner, in research and crop variety development. From creating a new market for jasmine rice, to producing varieties of rice that are better for diabetics and more sustainable and resilient to changes in the environment, LSU has been critical to the Louisiana rice industry for more than 100 years. The research also has world-wide impact since one-fifth of the global population’s calories comes from rice.
More than 60 percent of the rice Louisiana farmers plant was developed by the LSU AgCenter, with a direct economic impact of $580 million.
Read MoreDown in southwest Louisiana we know tailgating! And cooking rice dishes such as jambalaya while getting your pregame on is a tradition. But lest you think it’s only for college football, let’s set the record straight: we can and will tailgate before lots of other sports, including baseball, and rice is always a focal point of the festivities.
Friday, April 12, was Cajun Country Rice Day at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette (UL) for the first of a three-game baseball series versus Marshall University in the Sun Belt Conference.
Read MoreOne step into a tour of the Kennedy Rice Mill in Mer Rouge called into question one cardinal rule of Cajun cooking for ladies of all ages during a Louisiana Women in Agriculture event.
“My grandma always said you needed to wash the dirt off the rice first, but I’m starting to reconsider,” one participant mused.
Read MoreMeryl Kennedy rode shotgun for farm checks, walked flooded rice fields and picked up enough lingo to keep her fluent in the unique vernacular of a Louisiana farming community. Those moments spent learning at her father Elton’s side imprinted in her a deep appreciation for overcoming the hardships of farming in the near-hostile environment of the Gulf state.
Deep down though, she knew her heart just wasn’t in the dirt. She needed the glamor of the corporate world, of meeting with investors and negotiating global deals. The complete opposite of her father’s down-home rice farming, drying and land management business - or so she thought.
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