Fighting a war on two fronts is never advisable. Sure, the Romans pulled it off a few times, and so did the allies in World Wars I and II, but they were dragged into those fights – they were not wars of choice. Most military strategists, and marketers for that matter, on the subject of two-front wars will tell you, “Do. Not. Do. It.”
And if you are forced to do it, don’t waste any effort.
Unfortunately, the U.S. rice industry finds itself in a two-front war. And not by choice.
At home, we are besieged by punishing input costs for fuel, fertilizer, equipment, and labor. Abroad, we are fighting not just rice producers in other countries, but entire governments that are over-subsidizing their rice industries and artificially depressing global prices.
So, our production costs seem to know no upward limit, and every bushel of rice sold on the international market below the true cost of production further drops the floor out from under prices and our feet
It’s a two-front war – the production side and the market side. And every day, U.S. rice farmers are being pushed closer to the brink.
Sadly, this is not a new story. It’s one we’ve been talking about for years – in these pages, in our own publications, in public statements, on social media, in mainstream media, at our meetings and events, on our podcast, and in meetings with government officials, and in Congressional testimony.
There have been positive results. Congress and the Administration have approved direct aid for growers, which is vital and appreciated. They’ve also called for investigations into the trade practices of law-breaking rice-producing countries, and we’ve made modest progress at the World Trade Organization in calling attention to the problems. We’ve also seen a greatly enhanced and energized effort from our government to promote U.S. agricultural products overseas – specifically rice.
But there is no denying, these are desperate times. And while I won’t go so far as to call for desperate measures, I will say it is a time for us to band together without reservation.
We need to set aside smaller disputes, consolidate our efforts behind shared priorities, make our collective weight as an industry felt, and not waste a single resource on anything that doesn’t move us forward together.
One of the greatest traditions in American agriculture isn’t written in any policy manual. It’s the neighbor who shows up with equipment when yours breaks down three days before harvest, or as a storm is barreling down on your fields. It’s the phone call that comes in asking, “How are you holding up?” It’s families sharing knowledge across fence lines because everyone wins when the whole community survives.
We are being tested right now in exactly that tradition. Some operations, most even, will need help this year – financial, logistical, emotional, or all three. We need to be the neighbor who shows up.
The rice industry has survived droughts, floods, hurricanes, pandemics, trade wars, and market collapses. We will survive this too. But only if we stick together and show up for each other – the way we’ve done it before when it has mattered most.
The author is the Vice President of Communications & Strategic Development for USA Rice. ∆
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