Editor

Electronic commerce has moved into rice trading with the advent of Rice Belt Warehouse Inc.'s new Internet site that allows producers to expand their marketing beyond traditional boundaries.

"I was watching eBay and Amazon.com where you can buy all kinds of stuff and thought, maybe we could do something like that for rice," says Dick Ottis, executive vice president of Rice Belt Warehouse in El Campo, Texas. "It opens the markets that we are going into, not necessarily as far away as Argentina or Brazil, but they are going to be able to see it."

The warehouse launched Phase 1 of its site last fall, starting on a small scale so it could work out problems before they became too large. It can be found at www.ricebelt.com. So far, producers have posted about 200,000 cwt of rice to be sold, which Ottis says is a small amount of the total rice the drier handles.

Each producer is given an identification number that only he or she knows. Each lot that's posted on the Web carries the same number. The lots also include the location, total number of cwt offered, the yield/grade, and the world market price compared to loan value.

` Interested buyers click on the lots and make offers. Currently, the warehouse receives all of the offers and notifies the growers either by phone or e-mail, and the growers accept or decline.

"The prices that we have sold rice for on this have been average or a little above average in Texas," Ottis says. "This is strictly for the producer to be able to market his rice in a more modern situation."

During Phase 2, which will be launched later this year, Ottis says growers will be able to access the Web site directly to view what other rice lots have sold for and to whom they have sold. It will also include load summary sheets that itemize the lots that were sold and the price received. Mills with passwords will be able to access this section.

The Web site isn't intended to replace typical sale efforts, which allow buyers to inspect rice samples in person, Ottis says. Instead, it is intended to be an additional sales tool to assist local sales offices.

Designed by growers, for growers

Ottis admits the Web site idea wasn't entirely his own, and he was guided by his board of directors and grower-clients.

"Any time that we have an opportunity to get more buyers interested in our product, it's good for us," says a Texas producer who didn't want to be identified but pushed for the Web site. "It's even better when you're able to put your rice on line where anybody in the world can click on it and make a bid on it.

"There are fewer and fewer bidders here in Texas, so this will give us an opportunity to reach out."

Another Texas producer is optimistic about the future of the Web site. "We have gone from the #1 (rice-producing) state in the nation where we were flooded with sales offices to #5," says the producer. "The market is so depressed that anything we can do to bring in more bidders is good."

He already has put a small amount of his rice on the Web site and has received offers.