STONEVILLE, MS - Today, the Delta Research and Extension Center (DREC) held their annual Rice Producer Field Day here to review this year's latest rice research, followed by the Mississippi Farm Bureau's (MFBF) Summer Rice Meeting in the Capps Center.
During the field tour, research presentations were given on topics including weed and insect control, irrigation, rice breeding, etc. by: Dr. Bobby Golden, Dr. Jason Bond, Dr. Jeff Gore, Dr. Tom Allen, Dr. Jason Krutz, and Dr. Ed Redona.
The MFBF's Rice Meeting had presentations by: Patrick Swindoll, Chairman of the MFBF Rice Advisory Committee; Mike McCormick, MFBF President; Kirk Satterfield, Vice Chairman of MFBF Rice Advisory Committee; John Campbell, Deputy Commissioner for MS Department of Agriculture and Commerce; Kay Whittington, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; and Ben Mosely, Vice President of Government Affairs for USA Rice.
Mosely's remarks centered on legislative and regulatory updates from Washington along with a snapshot of the USA Rice work exploring sustainability. "Our Sustainability Committee met last week over the course of eight hours to help put together an industry-wide sustainability plan. USA Rice is pursuing a robust sustainability platform that is economically profitable, socially and environmentally responsible based on sound science and we're looking forward to working with Mississippi as it unfolds," he said.
In regards to advocacy on Capitol Hill, Mosely added, "USA Rice has been tearing up the pavement in Washington to gain significant access to markets for U.S.-grown rice. Our efforts are starting to show through the recent increases in U.S. rice programmed in international food aid, the rice-specific MOU signed by the U.S. and Iraq, the MOU underway between USA Rice and Cuba, and with the opportunity to normalize agricultural trade with Cuba closer than it's been in 50 years."
Kirk Satterfield, Mississippi rice farmer and member of the USA Rice Farmers Board of Directors said, "I'm really happy to have USA Rice as a regular part of our program here at our Mississippi Farm Bureau's Rice Meeting, our hard work to become a member state within the Federation has really paid off. We're looking forward to continuing our work with both the USA Rice Farmers Board and the broader Federation and represent Mississippi during policy debates and formulating our positions for the upcoming Farm Bill negotiations."