Betsy Ward

FAYETTEVILLE, AR -- USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward together with Domestic Promotion VP Anne Banville and International Promotion VP Jim Guinn presented the annual USA Rice Council report to the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board (ARRPB) on March 1.

Ward gave the financial report and provided audited financial statements to the board.  In her remarks on recent issues and related work, Ward updated the board on USA Rice's response to a September 2012 Consumer Reports article on arsenic in rice.  She also discussed the efforts of USA Rice's Marketability and Competitiveness Task Force, which was formed in 2011 to engage all segments of the U.S. rice industry in a proactive effort to address related challenges for U.S. rice in international and domestic markets.

In the domestic promotion report, Banville covered USA Rice's food policy work which bolsters rice's nutrition marketing initiatives, and highlights of foodservice and social media activities designed to boost consumption of whole grain brown rice.

Jim Guinn

In the international promotion report, Guinn reviewed the general rice export situation. highlighting the most important markets to U.S. rice.  He followed with an update of USA Rice promotional activities in Mexico, Central America, Colombia and China and reviewed past activities promoting Southern-grown rice in Taiwan and Korea.

Arkansas rice farmers hold 19 of 43 seats on the USA Rice Council's board of directors.  They are designated by the Arkansas Rice Council's farmer-elected 30-member board.  The input and oversight of Arkansas rice farmers are vital to USA Rice's successful domestic and international promotion programs, Ward said.

The ARRPB consists of nine rice producers, nominated by industry organizations and appointed to two-year terms by the governor.  The board is responsible for allocating Arkansas rice research and promotion checkoff funds annually. For the past 27 years, the ARRPB has awarded promotion funds to the USA Rice Council.

"We appreciate the financial resources entrusted to us by Arkansas and the state's participation in USA Rice's member-driven process for program development and implementation," Ward said.

After the presentations detailing promotion results and USA Rice financials, the ARRPB approved the USA Rice Council's request for funding the fiscal year Aug. 1, 2013, to July 31, 2014.

Contact: Chuck Wilson, (870), 673-7541

Lauren Echols, Mary Jemison and Reece Langley assist attendees at the USA Rice booth.

MEMPHIS, TN -- The USA Rice Federation last weekend exhibited at the 61^st annual Mid-South Farm and Gin Show with a booth providing attendees with information about the U.S. rice industry and activities conducted by USA Rice, including governmental affairs, domestic and international promotions and member services. Many USA Rice members visited the booth and staff met and discussed rice industry issues with rice producers from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri.

Carl Brothers discusses U.S. rice export markets.

The show also included agriculture policy and market update sessions. Carl Brothers, senior vice president Riceland Foods, gave a market update for rice and wheat and Richard Brock of Brock Associates provided an overview of the major commodity markets and economic trends in agriculture.

The Mid-South Farm and Gin Show is one of the largest farm shows in the region with attendees from all of the surrounding states in the Mid-South and Southeast.

Contact: Lauren Echols, (703) 236-1440

WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has issued a report that estimates both the Senate and House Agriculture Committee's versions of last year's five-year farm bill still would save federal dollars but at a lesser level during the updated ten-year budget baseline period of 2014-2023 than if Congress would continue the policies of Public Law 110-246, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 farm bill).  Last year, CBO estimated that enacting the Senate (S. 3240) and House (H.R. 6083) five-year bills would save more for the 2013-2022 baseline period than a continuation of the 2008 farm law.

S. 3240, as modified to account for a later enactment, would bring total direct spending for the affected U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs to $963 billion over the 2014-2023 period, or "$13.1 billion less than what we project will be spent over that period if those programs continue to operate as under current law," the report says.  Last year, CBO estimated that enacting S. 3240 would have reduced spending relative to continuing current policies by $23.1 billion over the 2013-2022 period.

CBO says H.R. 6083, as modified to account for a later enactment, would bring total direct spending for the affected USDA programs to $950 billion over the 2014-2023 period, or "$26.6 billion less than what we project will be spent over that period if those programs continue to operate as under current law."  In 2012, CBO estimated that enacting H.R. 6083 would have reduced spending relative to continuing current policies by $35.1 billion over the 2013-2022 period.

Contact: Reece Langley, (703) 236-1471

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March 1

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