MEMPHIS, TN – In mid-December, USA Rice participated in the National Black Growers Council (NBGC)
annual meeting that kicked off with opening remarks from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
Objectives and updates were reviewed by NBGC Interim Executive Director Dr. Loston Rowe and NBGC Board Chair PJ Haynie III at the meeting’s outset followed by a full agenda of conference speakers and topics centered around the theme, “Honoring Our Past, Growing Our Future.”
Keynote speaker, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Tom Vilsack, gave a summary of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which will invest $3.1 billion for projects to provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including small and underserved producers. During Secretary Vilsack’s presentation, NBGC members were encouraged to enroll in the various projects to diversify income opportunities on their farming operations.
Other presentations focused on crop innovations, consumer-driven market opportunities, farming evolutions, and the future of agriculture.
“This is more than a meeting, it’s a gathering of like-minded individuals coming together to celebrate achievements, share knowledge, and dedicate themselves to a broader purpose,” said Haynie who is also a rice farmer and miller based in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
The conference concluded with a dinner reception hosted by Ducks Unlimited (DU) at their headquarters in Memphis to recognize the new collaboration between DU, the NBGC, and USA Rice on the Climate-Smart Agriculture Commodity Program.
USA Rice is the lead partner for an $80 million grant for the Rice Stewardship Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, one of four rice-based projects awarded under the Biden Administration’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Initiative.
“This year, USA Rice celebrated 10 years of the Rice Stewardship Partnership in collaboration with Ducks Unlimited,” said Asiha Grigsby, USA Rice director of international promotion for the Western Hemisphere. “As we enter this new collaboration with DU and the NBGC, we look forward to the future as a collective developing projects that promote climate smart practices amongst rice farmers.”