STUTTGART, AR – With harvest still a few weeks off here, USA Rice staff was in Arkansas this week to participate in industry events and meet with members in the region.
Sarah Moran, vice president, international; Michael Klein, vice president, communications & domestic promotion; and Josie McLaurin, manager, government affairs & PAC; began their trip at Arkansas River Rice Mill in Pine Bluff to visit with owner and rice farmer PJ Haynie. Haynie took the group on a tour of the facility that is the newest rice mill in the state, and they were joined by Kelly Robbins, executive director of Arkansas Rice.
“PJ was very generous with his time and has a great vision for the company,” said Klein. “He’s assembling a fantastic team there in Pine Bluff and he’s very clearly committed to rice and to Arkansas and growing the already large impact rice has on the state economy.”
Moran, Klein, and McLaurin then attended the public meeting of the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board to report on recent promotion activities both international and domestic, and answer questions from the board on results, trends, the upcoming Farm Bill, and other topics.
The board then heard research reports from University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center breeders Dr. Xeuyen Sha and Dr. Christian DeGuzman, as well as weed science and agronomy reports from Dr. Tommy Butts and Dr. Jarrod Hardke, respectively. John Carlin, program director of the Arkansas Crop Variety Improvement Program, also gave a report to the board on the progress of an aromatic variety developed at the center recently.
The following day found all the parties and several hundred farmers at the Rice Field Day Tours—the first in-person tours in three years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Participants heard about developments in insect management, soil fertility, water use, drone use, and more. Field day speakers included Deacue Fields, the new vice president of agriculture for the University of Arkansas System; James Tillman, NRCS senior regional conservationist for the Southeast; Dr. Alton Johnson, director of the Rice Research and Extension Center, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture; and Bob Scott, who was the previous station director and is now the senior associate vice president for Agriculture-Extension and director of the Cooperative Extension Service.
Josh Hankins, USA Rice director of grower relations, and Emily Woodall, USA Rice manager of rice conservation services, also participated in the field day, staffing a booth with USA Rice-produced conservation and sustainability materials and directing rice producers to a variety of resources designed to help them improve their operations.
“There was a really good crowd at the field day,” said Woodall. “Not surprising, given we’ve been virtual for a few years and everyone is anxious to see what this season has in store for us. The weather has been uncooperative and we all know input costs are up 300-400 percent, but that said, the mood was upbeat throughout the event.”