USA Rice Outlook Conference Provides Pertinent and Significant Insight

AUSTIN, TX, December 15, 2005 — At the 2005 USA Rice Outlook Conference Dec. 4-6, held at the Austin Hilton, more than 700 attendees learned about recent successes, challenges and upcoming issues for the rice industry through a variety of speakers, from scientists to government officials. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs delivered the keynote address Dec. 5, during which she highlighted the 2007 Farm Bill.

USA Rice held a panel discussion on the World Trade Organization’s Hong Kong ministerial meeting and the 2007 farm bill. While many people are worried about the future of rice farming, “The current budget reconciliation was fairly insignificant for rice. We must remember that agricultural policy is evolutionary not revolutionary,” Dr. Joe Outlaw, Texas A&M University, said.

Jim Wiesemeyer, VP, policy and trade issues, Informa Economics, echoed Outlaw’s views on the evolutionary nature of agricultural policy and concluded the morning general session with his view of farm bill development. Wiesemeyer said the USA Rice Federation was improving its farm bill preparation and that the key for farmers is, “to be competitive in this world’s environment.”

The Dec. 6 sessions emphasized international and domestic rice promotion. Bob Reimenschneider, director of the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) Grain and Feed Division, said he expects overall FAS funding for rice to increase next year despite expected shifts in program categories.

Following Reimenschneider’s presentation, members of the USA Rice International Promotion department gave updates of their program activities.

Mexico, Canada and Japan remain the top three export markets for U.S. rice, a group into which Cuba has a potential fit, said Jim Brow, USA Rice VP for International Promotion. “If the restrictions on trade with Cuba were not in place for our industry…80 to 90 percent of the Cuba’s 750,000 metric ton market would go to the United States,” Brow said.

Marketing strategist Jody Levy, president, The Advantage Partnership, spoke about major consumer trends across the country. “Rice is on trend for the desire of today’s consumers for healthful, convenient and diversified food experiences,” she said. “Other food groups have to work to link their food with the current trends, but rice is already there!”

Government and academic agricultural extension representatives and researchers also told USA Rice attendees about the effects of last summer’s hurricane damage and of recovery efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas and examined rice production projections.

2005 Rice Leadership Development Class members were announced at the meeting and rice industry awards were made to: Charles ‘Eddie’ Eskew, Donald Bransford, John Greer, IGA Store Manager Eddie Brown, and Elizabeth “Liz” Roberg.

Next year’s USA Rice Outlook Conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV, where six years ago it had a record attendance.

View the press releases about events at USA Rice Outlook Conference:

Levy Tells Rice Industry that Rice ‘Is on Trend’ http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/204/5

2005 Rice Award Winners Honored at USA Rice Outlook Luncheon http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/202/5

Roberg Takes USA Rice Federation National Rice Month Scholarship Grand Prize http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/201/5

South Carolina Retailer Named Independent Retailer of the Year http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/200/5

2006 Rice Leadership Development Class Announced http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/203/5

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Contact: Sarah Castleberry, (703) 236-1458, scastleberry@usarice.com

USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting activities to influence government programs, developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase profitability for all industry segments.