ARLINGTON, VA – In
Episode 50 of
The Rice Stuff podcast, hosts Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon step out of the studio and into the dog days of summer to bring listeners two live interviews from recent rice industry events.
Water and input costs were the main topics of the day at the 48th Annual Eagle Lake Field Day as this year’s drought is affecting Texas rice farmers’ ability to grow a ratoon crop. Guests Dennis Neuman, Kirby Brown, Raul Villareal, and Steven Rockwood of Ducks Unlimited explained to Dixon what that means for the birds that rely on rice fields for habitat and food.
“We’re at a critical stage in Texas,” said Brown, conservation outreach biologist with Ducks Unlimited. “Recently it’s been so dry in the western part of the state, where the reservoirs are, that the water supply is going down fast. If you lose that second crop, you lose the habitat for the time that ducks are regularly here in this part of the countryside. It’s going to be a difficult problem for everyone.”
Meanwhile, at the 122nd annual USA Rice Millers’ Association Convention in California last month, Klein talked to Steve Lerch, president of Story Arc Consulting, about what’s hot and what’s not. Lerch, who worked with government agencies and agriculture boards to grow their digital marketing strategies for more than eight years at Google, laid out three essential pillars of connecting with consumers: first, understanding, recognizing, and following trends; second, finding a way to care about what customers care about; and third, influencing people by taking risks and getting creative.
“Business leaders in any industry, including rice, need to understand their consumers better and care more about the changes that are happening in the world that are affecting consumers, and the way they buy products and get information,” said Lerch.
Lerch and Klein talked about trends ranging from TikTok challenges to niche podcasts, noting that savvy business owners and content creators may have to admit they don’t always know what’s cool or popular, but challenging themselves to keep up is what’s important—a message that resonated with
The Rice Stuff’s trend-loving hosts.
New episodes of
The Rice Stuff are published on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and online at
www.thericestuffpodcast.com.
USA Rice is pleased to report that
The Rice Stuff has been recognized with a 2022 Apex Award of Excellence for Electronic Media (Apps & Podcasts) in the 34th annual Awards for Publication Excellence.
The awards are administered and judged by Communications Concepts, Inc., a firm that advises publishing, PR, and marketing professionals on best practices to improve their publications and communications programs.