ARLINGTON, VA – Registration for the annual USA Rice Outlook Conference opened on Friday with more programming announced than ever before.
The largest North American gathering for the rice industry is taking place from December 10-12, 2017 and is expected to attract 1,000 rice farmers, millers, merchants, researchers, exporters, and more to beautiful, fun San Antonio, Texas.
In addition to Outlook Conference mainstays like the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nathan Childs, analyst Jim Wiesemeyer, and individual state outlook and research reports, programming has been added for every segment of the industry through concurrent breakout sessions.
“We are planning sessions on understanding and utilizing the futures market, complying with the Food Safety Modernization Act, detailed analysis of the Farm Bill, and workshops on crop insurance options for organic rice farmers, and the latest conservation techniques for all rice farmers,” said Brian King, USA Rice Chairman.
Important international panels are also being offered with one focusing on the reimagined North American Free Trade Agreement that involves two of the U.S.’s most important markets – Mexico and Canada – and another on the much-anticipated Chinese market, newly opened to U.S. rice exports.
“We’ve also added a session called ‘From Piles to Files’ that features Lori Firsdon, a renowned speaker and organization guru, who is going to teach attendees how to get paperwork and office clutter under control, and a fun interactive session on telling the rice story, featuring some growers who do it very well,” King said.
The anchor of the meeting is still the opening general session that will feature welcomes from state officials, including Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, and a keynote address from Mark McKinnon, one of the most successful, influential, and respected political and media advisors in the modern era who is the creator, executive producer, and co-host of Showtime’s real-time documentary series on the 2016 election and the Trump presidency, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth.
For more on the 2017 Outlook Conference, including registration materials and information on exhibiting, visit the Conference
website and watch this space for further details in the coming days.