Thursday, February 13, 2025

Help us recognize deserving industry leaders

Vicky Boyd
Vicky Boyd, Editor

As you thumb through this issue of Rice Farming magazine, you may notice nomination forms for two different recognition programs — the Rice Awards, now in its 28th year, and the third annual Rice Consultant of the Year.

We don’t come up with the award recipients’ names ourselves — we rely on you, as their peers, to nominate them. The submissions are then judged by a panel of rice producers and/or allied industry representatives.

The award recipients don’t do what they do for the accolades and awards. Instead, they devote countless hours advocating on behalf of rice. If you’ve ever had a chance to talk to any of our award winners, you can feel their passion for the industry.

That’s what makes these awards even more meaningful. We’re recognizing these folks with lagniappe — something extra, as they say in Louisiana — for what they think is “just the right thing to do.”

The Rice Awards comprises the Rice Farmer of the Year, the Rice Industry Award and the Rice Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here for the Rice Awards nomination form.

As its name implies, the Rice Farmer of the Year recognizes a producer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty not just in growing a crop but in industry leadership.

The Rice Industry Award recognizes a non-farmer for his or her leadership. Earl Garber, the 2018 Industry Award recipient, spent years helping growers with soil fertility, among other issues, and also is past president of the National Association of Conservation Districts.

The Rice Lifetime Achievement Award honors someone who has spent his or her life bettering the rice industry. I can think of no better example than the 2018 recipient, Marvin Harris of Newport, Arkansas. Over the past several decades, Harris served on numerous industry groups and committees as well as advocated on behalf of U.S. rice.

Our other award program, the Rice Consultant of the Year, recognizes someone who is in the trenches with you and worries about your crop like you do. The recipient also is an industry leader. Click here for the RCOY nomination form.

Take Richard Costello from Oak Grove, Louisiana, whom we recognized with the second annual Rice Consultant of the Year award in March. In addition to serving producers in Northeast Louisiana, he is active in the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association and currently serves as president.

We also couldn’t continue these programs without the support of our sponsor-partners: Horizon Ag and USA Rice for the Rice Awards, and Corteva Agriscience for the Rice Consultant of the Year.

Help us further the tradition by nominating someone for the Rice Awards and/or the Rice Consultant of the Year today.

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