FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — February 2, 2010

CONTACT:  Reece Langley, (703) 236-1471, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

WASHINGTON — The USA Rice Federation today issued the following statement in response to the president’s proposed agriculture budget, which was formally submitted to Congress on Monday:

We regret that the president’s budget takes aim at the one component of current U.S. farm policy that is effectively serving rice farmers. 

Just as troubling, the budget proposes new adjusted-gross income requirements and cuts to the Market Access Program that suggest a dangerous unawareness of the economic circumstances of U.S. farm families and the increased competition American agriculture faces in the world today.