Rice industry, DU recognized for habitat conservation efforts Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced approved grants from the first round of proposals to the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The USA Rice Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Inc. (DU) and...

George Graham Vice President – Research & Development Mars Food North America Mars Food has five core principles, and quality is No. 1. We are very proud of our reputation and are actively involved in the rice supply chain from science...

New tool protects against volatilization and nitrogen loss Farmers apply nitrogen to their rice crops to promote optimal plant growth and achieve maximum yields. For nitrogen to meet these goals, it has to be available to the plant. Dr. Nathan Slaton,...

Charles Eames, an American designer who was born a few years into the 20th century and worked in the industrial and graphic design fields, once said, “Eventually, everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is...

Nurturing the seeds of a new beginning...finally. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” I am reminded of this Chinese proverb when I reflect on the foresight and perseverance that American...

No cash bids being offered throughout the year can definitely be described as a “tight spot.” And when rice farmers find themselves in a tight spot, they don’t give up. That’s not their nature. Instead, they look for another alternative to sell their rice. Several years ago, a small group of rice farmers in southwest Louisiana, who were faced with this situation, came up with an idea to send their rice to Mexico via rail. The inspiration for this thought was a rail facility located at the Lacassine Agri-Industrial Park that originally had been intended to carry sugar. Although that venture did not pan out, the property, infrastructure, spur and truck scales were all still there. Mark Pousson, who is the manager of what is now the South Louisiana Rail Facility (SLRF) in Lacasinne, explains how Mike Strain – the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry in Louisiana – and Governor Jindal’s administration worked with them to “make something happen.”

Northern California contest yields information, recognition By Bruce Linquist In 2015, the University of California Cooperative Extension kicked off a yield contest with rice growers. The purpose was to provide an opportunity for rice producers and UC scientists to share information...

I first heard of what Blanca Isabel long-grain purple rice is all about while visiting with south Louisiana rice producer Fred Zaunbrecher last fall. This variety was developed by LSU AgCenter’s Dr. Milton Rush in 1998, while he was looking for a rice variety with a natural resistance to sheath blight. While drafting an article about Blanca Isabel for the January issue of Rice Farming (https://ricefarming.webpublisherpro.com/departments/feature/blanca-isabel/), I spoke with the late Dr. Rush’s daughter, Claudia. She and her family operate Rush Rice Products, LLC, in Baton Rouge, La., where they market and sell Blanca Isabel. Go to www.purpleblackrice.com to check it out. Claudia graciously sent me a bag of Blanca Isabel to sample for myself. Last night, I cooked up a pot and used it in a chicken casserole dish. You cook it the same way you do regular rice (2 cups water, 1 cup rice, etc.). The water turns a deep purple color, and in about 18 minutes the rice is ready. I have to say it is delicious.

This time of year, there is a Rice Outlook Conference involving the six states that produce rice. And for most of the California attendees, the top activity for the three days was to watch the weather back home. We had left for the conference after some welcome rain the week previous, and now there was promise of more. A lot more. More than we received in all of 2013. And while the storm wasn’t as “epic” as it was hyped to be, it was a welcome change. The five inches of rain filled rain gauges, helped the decomposition of the remaining rice straw in the fields and filled bypasses and flood plains along the river.

In 1998, Dr. Milton C. Rush, a plant pathologist with LSU AgCenter, was looking for a rice variety with a natural resistance to sheath blight. In doing so, according to LSU rice breeder Dr. Steve Linscombe, Rush introduced a purple grain line into his program that he thought might have higher levels of sheath blight resistance. What ultimately occurred was something else entirely. As noted on purpleblackrice.com, when Rush crossbred a common Louisiana long-grain variety (Cypress) and a purple/black kernel variety from Sri Lanka (Hitan Kitan), he developed a new, high-yielding, early long-grain purple rice variety that he named Blanca Isabel. It is unique in that it has the cooking qualities, texture and taste of long-grain white rice and the health benefits of purple rice.

This market situation deserves attention for supply potential and ability to set prices. By Tiago Barata Owner/Publisher of Agrotendencias Ltda – a rice market analysis publication focused on the Mercosur market Sao Gabriel, RG, Brazil Advisory Group, USRPA A yearly contributor...

Risk management tool sparks questions from farmers Editor’s Note: When the new Farm Bill was signed into law, the spotlight beamed brightly on crop insurance. Ethan Branscum, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation Assistant Director of Commodity Activities & Economics offers answers...

U.S . rice has improved in terms of whole grain, but we are still having problems with the quantity of chalk and cooking. The United States had very good quality rice in the past , so we expect that...

To help manage his rice crop, from winter planning sessions all the way through the season, Rehermann depends on the advice of Eric Benzel, a PCA with Big Valley Ag Services in Gridley. “The members of the family from which...

by Carl Fannon Simon Says, Inc. Holly Grove, Ark. When I was a young teenager looking for something to do to make extra money, Jeff Calloway, an independent seed and chemical dealer in Holly Grove, hired me to “sweep up.” Later, he...