Departments

Will Rice Prices Increase? Rice prices are likely to improve with the expectation that China will buy American rice and the Brazilian crop will be off this year, a rice marketing consultant said on Jan. 31 at the National Conservation...

LANCE RAMTHUN CROP SOLUTIONS, LLC JONESBORO, ARK. (CONSULTS IN CRAIGHEAD, LAWRENCE, POINSETT AND MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES) When my dad began consulting in rice in 1980, we moved to Hoxie, Ark., which is a rice and soybean farming community. Rice and the consulting occupation was...

Ideas For Central America To Remain A Key Market CARLOS GONZÁLEZ ARGÜELLO BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE DEMASA RICE GROUP PRESIDENT OF FECARROZ SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA Because rice is an excellent basic food in Costa Rica and for many poor countries in the region,...

The 113th Congress offers challenges as well as reasons for hope. BY LINDA RAUN CHAIRMAN, USA RICE PRODUCERS’ GROUP USA RICE FEDERATION Despite two years of political tumult and policy uncertainty in Washington, D.C., there are reasons to be hopeful. An under-budget U.S. farm policy...

BY CARROLL SMITH  EDITOR In 1978, Paul Harvey, a popular radio broadcaster, delivered a speech titled, “So God Made a Farmer,” at the Future Farmers of America convention in Kansas City, Mo. Thirty-five years later, the beloved voice of the late...

Decision hailed as an important step in rice industry unification On Jan. 4, USA Rice Federation announced that the Mississippi rice industry is now a USA Rice Federation member, bringing Mississippi rice farmers together with farmers from other rice-producing states...

Rice farmers reflect on family, wildlife and their love of the land The California Rice Commission posts blogs on its Web site by California rice farmers and others associated with the industry. The first two blogs featured here are by...

Missouri farmer finds a new way to bring rice into the rotation BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Dennis Robison, who farms in the Missouri Bootheel, is typically in a 50/50 rotation between rice and soybeans on 2,600 acres. For the most part, this...

BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR When the House and Senate finally passed the so-called fiscal cliff bill, it happened on Jan. 1, 2013, and extended what we typically refer to as the 2008 Farm Bill through Sept. 30, 2013. After the extension was...

Careful planning and an experienced staff are keys to success BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Sam and Jim Whitaker grew up farming with their mother and father, then took over the operation when their father retired. All total, this past year marked the...

Both the environment and the economy realize benefits BY JUSTIN FRITSCHER NRCS-MISSISSIPPI Farmers and ranchers who use conservation practices on their land help clean water and air. Their operations are more efficient, and they promote the wise use of natural resources. USDA’s...

Humanitarian rice research is making a difference Rice is one of the globe’s most important food staples. About half of the world’s seven billion people eat rice every day. Unfortunately, about 50 million acres of rice is grown in flood-prone...

Arkansas farmer strives to grow good quality seed rice BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Mark Wimpy, who farms just south of Jonesboro, Ark., raised his first seed rice in the mid-1980s. Today, he is still a seed rice producer for Cache River Valley...

Siebenmorgen Recognized With Friend Of The Farmer Award Terry Siebenmorgen, University Professor of Food Science and director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Rice Processing Program, is the recipient of the Riceland Foods 2012 Friend of the...

DR. JOHN SAICHUK LOUISIANA jsaichuk@agcenter.lsu.edu One of the most frequently asked questions this fall has been, “What are we going to plant next year?” It is also one of the most uncommon questions I have been asked over the years in this...