One idea is to ship single varieties of rice as approved by the buyer. BY DWIGHT ROBERTS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER USRPA In 2012, 15 percent of all rice exports were destined to Central America. Consisting mostly of rough rice for processing in...

BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR The origin of the phrase “thinking outside the box” is typically attributed to the Nine Dots Puzzle, pictured below. Three rows of three dots are inside a box. The challenge is to connect the dots with...

Healthier plants result in higher yield potential, milling quality Healthier rice plants cope much better with stresses such as diseases and inclement weather, resulting in higher yield potential and milling quality. And more rice producers are improving their plant health...

Sixth generation California rice farmer thinks outside the box BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Many years ago, John Browning was one of the first people to raise rice in the heart of the Sacramento Valley. Today, his great grandson, Fritz Durst, is...

For more than 60 years, folks throughout the South have made the trip to Memphis, Tenn., to take part in the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show. In less than a week, they will once again pack up the family...

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...

A record crowd is expected from throughout the Western Hemisphere BY DWIGHT ROBERTS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER USRPA With the largest buyers of U.S. rice in the region already confirmed to participate, the 2013 edition of the Rice Market & Technology Convention is...

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...