August is for Advocacy for USA Rice Members

WASHINGTON, DC – With the return of the U.S. Senate last week and U.S. House Members yesterday, the full Congress is back at work in the nation’s capital after the traditional August break.  Although referred to as “recess,” there is very little downtime on the docket during this annual hiatus for Members of Congress.  A more appropriate definition of “recess” in this case is district or state work period rather than childhood memories of frolicking on playgrounds.

And just like every year, USA Rice members proudly volunteered to spend their own time during the August Recess advocating for U.S. rice industry priorities.

Over the last six weeks, U.S. rice farmers, millers, merchants, and allied businesses have hosted legislators on their farms or at their businesses, attended Farm Bill listening sessions as Congress works to reauthorize the cornerstone agriculture and nutrition law that expires this year, and participated in trade discussions mostly centered around India, the perpetual “bad actor” in the global marketplace.

USA Rice Chair Kirk Satterfield, a rice farmer from Longshot, Mississippi, participated in a Farm Bill roundtable in Jackson with Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) on August 21.

USA Rice Farmers Chair L.G. Raun, an El Campo, Texas rice farmer, hosted staff from Rep. Troy Nehl’s (R-TX) office on his farm in mid-August and later participated in a Farm Bill listening session with Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Boozman late last month.  Nehls staff also met with rice farmers and industry leaders from Matagorda and Wharton counties at Rice Belt Warehouse.

Eric Vaught, who farms near Hickory Ridge, Arkansas, and sits on the USA Rice Farmers Board of Directors, hosted Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on his farm in mid-August followed by a Farm Bill roundtable with a number of local rice farmers and agriculture industry members.

Rice industry members, including the immediate past chair of the USA Rice Farmers, Curtis Berry, a rice farmer from Tunica, Mississippi, also participated in a Farm Bill discussion with Tuberville while he was on his swing through the mid-south in August.

Outside the jurisdiction of the Farm Bill and the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, agricultural labor has been a top issue for many over the past several years.  Numerous USA Rice members participated in listening sessions in Arkansas and Mississippi hosted by the House Agricultural Labor Working Group, which is co-chaired by Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR), with the charge to present recommended solutions to ensure farmers have access to an adequate workforce.

“These visits and events are just to name a few,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward.  “With Farm Bill reauthorization looming, as well as other legislative and regulatory issues hanging over our heads, we want to thank everyone who took time out of their schedules, away from their farms, businesses, and families to be voices for the U.S. rice industry.  Nothing beats the on-the-ground, direct communications to policymakers by those who face these issues every single day.”