LITTLE ROCK, AR – The 2024 USA Rice Outlook Conference, the largest rice conference in North America, returned to the number one rice-producing state in the U.S. last night with a grand opening reception welcoming farmers, millers, merchants, end-users, exporters, academics, government officials, and special guests.
“Today and tomorrow are jam-packed with presentations, break-out sessions, state reports, the Annual Awards Luncheon, and lots of meeting and greeting in between,” said USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann. “We have more than 35 presenters on five stages over a day and half educating and entertaining attendees on everything from agronomic forecasts and farm policy to artificial intelligence and consumer trends and more.”
As always, the Grand Opening Reception took place in the sprawling Exhibit Hall, the home to three of the five stages: the Nutrien Ag Solutions Stage, the Rice Foundation Stage, and the USA Rice Stage. Also in the hall, alongside farm equipment from John Deere and Case IH is the Choose Beer Grown Here Bar from Budweiser. Attendees can try their hand at several games, or just drink their rice in the form of products from Anheuser-Busch, the first company to achieve U.S. Farmed Certification.
Attendees will also receive the latest issue of the USA Rice Whole Grain that covers current industry topics from the debut of the new GITUSA badge, to a celebration of the 100th episode of The Rice Stuff podcast, to stories about the American Saké Festival held in Hot Springs, Arkansas earlier this year. Other articles feature Farm Bill advocacy efforts and reports on international markets in South Korea and Norway, and an analysis on the banner year for rice in global food aid.
Copies of the Whole Grain are being mailed to subscribers this week, and additional copies to distribute to friends, neighbors, colleagues, and customers are available. Contact
Deborah Willenborg for copies or to discuss advertising in future issues. And as always, digital versions of all Whole Grain issues are available on the
USA Rice website.