The “store and hold” strategy employed by many rice growers in 2018 has finally paid off, as rice prices rallied in 2019, hinging largely on record prevented planting acreage and general uncertainty about the year’s crop size. According to a rice stocks report released late August by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, rough rice stocks for ... Read More »
Not long after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced details of a support package for farmers, Scott Stiles phone started ringing. On July 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out the Market Facilitation Program, Food Purchase and Distribution Program and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program, all intended to help farmers affected by the international battle over tariffs. “The phone never stopped ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released a county Market Facilitation Program payment schedule for growers with commodities that have been affected by foreign retaliatory tariffs. The assistance covers specialty crops, non-specialty crops, dairy and hogs. The rates range from $15 to $150 per acre, depending on the impact the tariffs have had on that particular county. They are the ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its planted acreage estimates June 28, and it showed 2.76 million acres of planted rice, a 6% decrease from 2018 planted acres. The area estimated for harvest this season is 2.71 million acres, down 7% from last year. Given the weather challenges during planting, the report surprised many. “On one hand, it wasn’t surprising ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture will relocate to the Kansas City region from the Washington, D.C., area. The other areas that had been considered were North Carolina and Indiana. “Following a rigorous site selection process, the Kansas City region provides a win win – maximizing our mission function by putting taxpayer ... Read More »
Planted rice acres for 2019 are only expected to decline about 3 percent from 2018, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Services’ Prospective Plantings Report released March 29. Altogether, growers say, they plan to plant 2.87 million acres this year compared to 2.946 million acres in 2018. Growers in the top three rice-producing states — Arkansas, California and Louisiana — ... Read More »
The amount of rough rice stored on and off the farm increased by 16 percent in December 2018 compared to the same month in 2017, according to the recently released U.S. Department of Agriculture rice stocks report. At the same time, the amount of milled rice in storage decreased 41 percent as of December 2018 compared to December 2017. The total ... Read More »
All Farm Service Agency offices nationwide will reopen shortly to provide additional administrative services to farmers and ranchers during the government shutdown. The announcement by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue came after select FSA offices provided limited hours of service Jan. 17, 18 and 22. Those offices as well as others nationwide will be open beginning Jan. 24, but not ... Read More »
Dwight LeBlanc, Louisiana Wildlife Services state director based in Port Allen, is seeking Louisiana rice producers who have had feral hog damage to their crop to participate in a study. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services is conducting feral swine control projects across the United States, including Louisiana. One of the goals is to quantify damage to various resources and ... Read More »
Farmers are urged to complete the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2017 Census of Agriculture, which should be arriving in their mailboxes in December. The census can be returned by mail or securely submitted online. Read More »
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