Jun 17, 2015
MOLINE, ILLINOIS -- The 2015/17 Rice Leadership Development Program class began the week in Chicago at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), where the class met with Fred Seamon, Senior Director, Commodity Research & Product Development. Seamon provided an overview on using the CBOT as a tool to reduce risk.
"CBOT really opened my eyes to what is happening after the rice leaves my farm," said class member Paul Johnson, a rice farmer from Welsh, Louisiana. "Because farmers tend to concentrate on producing a safe and abundant crop while focused on water and environmental stewardship, we forget there are market forces beyond our immediate control that can help a farmer who is paying attention, or hurt a farmer who doesn't know what to consider."
The class also visited the world headquarters here of program sponsor John Deere where they met with company executives and toured the combine factory.
This is the second of four week-long sessions in the two-year leadership program. It includes personal development workshops on presentation skills, media training and business etiquette. The class will now travel to Arkansas and Mississippi to study those state's rice farming practices and processing industries.
The seven class members are rice producers Johnson; Nicole Creason, Jonesboro, AR; Greg Van Dyke, Pleasant Grove, CA; Nat McKnight, Cleveland, MS; and Hudgens Jeter, Stuttgart, AR; and rice industry representatives Dr. Dustin Harrell, Rayne, LA with LSU AgCenter, and Collin Holzhauer, Harrisburg, AR with Southern Rice & Cotton.
The Rice Leadership Development Program is sponsored by John Deere Company, RiceTec Inc., and American Commodity Company through The Rice Foundation and is managed by the USA Rice Federation.