USA Rice Sponsors $10,000 In Scholarship Prizes

ARLINGTON, May 8, 2007 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 8, 2007

CONTACTS:

Patricia Alderson, (703) 236-1472, talderson@usarice.com

Randy Jemison, (337) 738-7009, rjemison@usarice.com

Chuck Wilson (870) 673-7541, cwilson@usarice.com

USA RICE FEDERATION SPONSORS $10,000 IN SCHOLARSHIP PRIZES

Scholarships will be awarded for National Rice Month promotions in rice-growing states

ARLINGTON, VA — The USA Rice Federation is sponsoring a National Rice Month (NRM) scholarship contest this September for high school juniors and seniors whose families are directly involved in the rice industry. The contest will be held in the six major rice-growing states of Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.

To qualify for the USA Rice NRM Scholarship, students must run a promotional campaign in their local community during September with U.S.-grown rice as the central theme.

Nine scholarship prizes totaling $10,000 are available. The grand prize is a $3,500 scholarship. The winner and a chaperone will also receive an expense-paid trip to the 2007 USA Rice Outlook Conference, December 2-4, in Orlando, FL, for the scholarship presentation. Additional prizes are: second place, $2,000; third place, $1,500; fourth place, $1,000; fifth place, $750; and sixth place, $500. Three honorable mention prizes of $250 each also are available.

Initiated by an act of Congress in 1991, September marks the 17th annual NRM celebration. For more information and a scholarship contest entry form, see the Industry Affairs page on www.usarice.com, or call Randy Jemison at (337) 738-7009 or Chuck Wilson at (870) 673-7541.

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.