Big in Texas
Jun 21, 2019
FORT WORTH, TX -- USA Rice was a sponsor of the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (SASDA) conference hosted by the Texas Department of Agriculture here last week. SASDA is comprised of the Commissioners, Secretaries, and Directors of Agriculture from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Virgin Islands.
Keynote speakers at the conference included the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mary Walker, acting regional administrator for EPA Region 4.
Another guest speaker, Li Qiangmin, consul general for the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston, talked about the ongoing friction between the U.S. and China and the effect it is having on trade between the two countries.
SASDA members also broke up into small groups to discuss issues that matter most to their respective state’s agriculture industries, and then came together to figure out ways the separate regions can work together to have a greater impact on ag policy.
“This SASDA conference is an invaluable opportunity for regional sharing of ideas to better the agriculture industry through relationships with other states and partners, such as USA Rice,” said Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. “We appreciate the warm welcome in Texas and look forward to returning the hospitality when the conference comes to Arkansas in 2021.”
In addition to the business meetings, attendees toured the Fort Worth stockyards, the Whiskey Ranch Distillery, AT&T Stadium, and Eden Green Technologies, and were entertained by local recording artist and TV personality Red Steagall, and Austin Wayne and Tim Self, the father-son professional stock car racing driver and owner duo.
“We had fruitful conversations with ag commissioners from all the rice-producing states represented, but we also got to talk to the folks from South Carolina and Florida, where rice is a growing component of their states’ ag industries,” said Kane Webb, USA Rice director of field services in Louisiana.