Mississippi Rice Council Annual Meeting Recounts A Year of Rice-Centric Activities

CLEVELAND, MS – Mississippi Rice Council President Kirk Satterfield welcomed about 75 producers to the annual meeting here last week to learn about promotion, research, agronomy, politics, and more.

Promotions were first up with a brief report from Mississippi Promotion Board Chair Patrick Swindoll, and then a detailed accounting of promotion activities from Bolivar County Extension Coordinator Laura Jane Giaccaglia.  Highlights included the launch of the “Between the Levees” cookbook that was sold at the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, the numerous activities and public appearances of the Delta Rice Queen and Ambassador, as well as the evolution of the National Rice Month celebrations in the region.

Hunter Bowman, extension rice specialist at the Delta Research & Extension Center, provided agronomy updates, specifically sharing results of his crop protectant research.  Then doctoral candidate Anna Smyly with the center talked about her team’s research into water use and tailwater recovery studies.

Ducks Unlimited Director of Conservation Innovation Scott Manley and USA Rice Director of Grower Relations Josh Hankins offered updates on the Climate Smart Commodity program that is a joint project of those organizations and the National Black Growers Council.

Finally, Satterfield introduced the USA Rice Washington staff: President & CEO Peter Bachmann, Chief Operating Officer Sarah Moran, and Vice President of Communications & Domestic Promotion Michael Klein.

Bachmann thanked the attendees for their continued support of USA Rice and for “lending” Satterfield to the national group to serve as chair of USA Rice.  He talked about the tens of millions of dollars the group has been able to direct to the rice industry and explained that a new Farm Bill is clearly a priority, but challenging as the legislative calendar gets a bit shorter each day.

Moran gave an overview of export markets and promotion activities, and talked about quality concerns with U.S. rice in key markets and how USA Rice is working with researchers and breeders to address the issue.

Klein then shared domestic promotion highlights, including work being done on a refresh of the Grown in the USA rice mark, and an update on school foodservice programs, including the new K-12 Foodservice Cookbook.  He promoted the USA Rice Daily, The Rice Stuff podcast, and the 2024 USA Rice Outlook Conference scheduled for December 8-10 in Little Rock that he said will be “the biggest and best yet.”

There followed, as always, an outstanding meal, fellowship, and a meeting of the Mississippi Rice Promotion Board.