Field Days in the Natural State

ARKANSAS – USA Rice staff fanned out across Arkansas over the last week to meet with millers and farmers; attend field days in Jonesboro, Stuttgart, Osceola, and Harrisburg; and present at the Arkansas Rice Research Promotion Board (ARRPB) meeting.  

During the ARRPB meeting, Sarah Moran, USA Rice vice president for international, gave an update on international markets, highlighting the growing importance of promotional activities as other rice producing countries are increasing their exports.  

“Not only are these countries encroaching on traditional U.S. export markets like Mexico but they’re also increasing their exports to our own country,” said Moran.  “If they were playing by the rules, that would be one thing, but many of these countries are subsidizing their exports and not being held accountable.  USA Rice has raised this concern repeatedly to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Trump Administration, and also requested a 25 percent tariff be imposed on Chinese rice.”

Jesica Kincaid, manager for international policy who joined USA Rice in January, attended the Horizon Ag Field Day at Mark Wimpy’s farm near Jonesboro last Thursday.  It was Kincaid’s first trip to Arkansas and she joined a group of 150 producers and industry professionals, plus 40 rice producers from Central and South America, who listened to Horizon Ag General Manager Tim Walker talk about the company’s Provisia™ Rice System and its strength in combating weed resistance.  Presentations by the Horizon Ag research team indicated that additional varieties are in the development pipeline, and future releases will continue to be higher yielding and more disease tolerant.  

Last Friday, more than five hundred people attended the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center’s field day that showcased the latest results in irrigation, weed management, entomology, pathology and fertility trials, and also highlighted new trials being conducted that look at the effects of high nighttime temperatures.  Dr. Bob Scott, director of the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart, was presented with the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents.

On Monday, farmers Mike and Ryan Sullivan joined the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the USDA Agriculture Research Service, along with the USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited Rice Stewardship Partnership to host the Mississippi County Water Management Field Day at the Sullivan’s Florenden Farms in Osceola, to talk about the latest research on water conservation, irrigation automation, and more.
 
Ryan Sullivan discussed the practices involved in row rice production and some of the early indications of how this production practice can save not only water, but also labor costs and trips across the field.  “I saw how we’d been growing rice for all these years and said, there’s got to be a better way,” said Sullivan.  “For us, it’s about saving trips across the field.”
 
“This field day started three years ago with about 15 people and has grown tremendously, drawing a crowd of about 250 people on Monday,” said Josh Hankins, director of the Rice Stewardship Partnership, who who gave a presentation on the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).  “Water conservation and new practices are gaining popularity and interest among growers in the Mid-South.”
 
Lauren Waldrip Ward, executive director of Arkansas Rice Farmers, educated growers on the recently released Arkansas Voluntary Smoke Management Guidelines for Row Crop Burning and encouraged growers to put 1-800-830-8015 in their phones to call before they burn this fall. The guidelines were developed through a broad coalition of Arkansas ag stakeholders and more information can be found here.

On Tuesday, Hankins and USA Rice Manager of Regulatory Affairs Lydia Holmes attended the RiceTec field day outside Harrisburg.  The field tour included new innovations for irrigation management, and new hybrids coming to the market including the herbicide-tolerant trait, FullPage.  The annual event closed with a dinner with some great giveaways, farm bill updates by Representative Rick Crawford’s (R-AR) staff, rice market updates from Holmes, and highlights of RiceTec’s SmartRice program and sustainability initiatives by RiceTec CEO Mike Gumina.