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May 14, 2020
ALL AROUND RICE COUNTRY, USA -- Today the USA Rice World Market Price (WMP) Subcommittee held its May meeting via videoconference due to COVID-19 precautions. The full Subcommittee beamed in via Zoom to discuss projected plantings, supply and demand, and rough rice stocks.
Subcommittee members agreed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) planting projections were on target, and the industry as a whole is looking forward to a larger crop than in 2019.
“The May World Market Price meeting is important for gathering information about the current state of the U.S. rice industry and dialoguing that information with USDA about the rest of the current marketing year and sharing our latest thoughts on rice acreage for the 2020 crop,” said WMP Subcommittee Chair Keith Glover. “Even though we were unable to conduct our normal in-person meeting in Washington, DC, we, nevertheless, accomplished our objective today using a new meeting platform.”
Following the Subcommittee meeting, Glover and USA Rice staff held another virtual meeting with the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to review committee members’ feedback on projected plantings, and supply and demand estimates.
Members also held a virtual meeting with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service staff to talk about the impact of COVID-19 on global rice production and exports, market access issues, and ongoing and upcoming trade negotiations.
“In this time of global uncertainty, it was very beneficial for USA Rice members and staff to discuss the global rice situation with experts at USDA,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the globe, we were able to hold productive, informative, virtual discussions.”