ARLINGTON, VA –
Episode 62 of
The Rice Stuff podcast, available now, is awash in special guests, interesting observations, and sobering statistics.
Co-host Lesley Dixon attended the Western Rice Belt Meeting in El Campo, Texas, recently where she sat down with Texas rice farmer Debbie Hoffpauir to talk about the challenging water situation in her region and what it means for the future of the crop.
Meanwhile, more than 500 miles northeast of them, co-host Michael Klein was attending industry meetings in Stuttgart, Arkansas, where he was able to check in with several USA Rice members and allies.
Klein talked about the upcoming Farm Bill with Minority Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Fitz Elder and Arkansas rice farmers Collin Holzhauer, Jim Whitaker, and Wayne Wiggins.
He also spoke with Chair of Arkansas Rice David Gairhan, Riceland Foods Board of Directors Chair Roger Pohlner, Andrew Grobmyer of the Agriculture Council of Arkansas, and Holzhauer again on the state of rice farming in the top rice producing state in the nation.
Finally, Klein caught up with Lauren Waldrip, executive director of the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association, to talk about alternative energy options for farmers and how they can utilize new technology to help control at least one input cost.
“As several of the people I spoke with said, it’s early in the process and in the year, but it’s always eye-opening to hear directly from people in the field,” said Klein. “We’ll check back in with folks throughout the year, but hopefully the overall optimism I felt will have been well-placed.”
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, and Stitcher, and now Amazon Music!