COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – The USA Rice Millers’ Association (RMA), founded in 1899, is one of the oldest agribusiness organizations in the country, and this week, the group celebrated their 125th convention with a strong nod to the past.
RMA Chair Rick Rhody opened the General Session with a retrospective of the organization’s storied history.
“When RMA was formed there were only 45 states,” he said. “Also it’s wild to think that at the time of the fourth RMA convention in the summer of 1903, the Wright Brothers had not yet flown at Kitty Hawk! We’ve seen 22 presidents, two world wars, one great depression, and predate many of the most well-known American cultural organizations and awards, from the Pulitzer Prizes to the Oscars, and even the American Farm Bureau.”
USA Rice’s Peter Bachmann and Karah Janevicius held a fireside chat on trade issues, touching on USA Rice strategies, RMA priorities, and the fate of the World Trade Organization (WTO), among other topics.
In keeping with the theme of celebrating the organization’s history, attendees were treated to a
special video presentation, “Lions and Legends of the RMA” that featured interviews with Marvin “Butch” Baden, Carl Brothers, Paul “Bubba” Crutchfield, Bill Dore, Al Montna, Gary Sebree, Jamie Warshaw, and Bob Watts.
Following the video, Rhody asked the Legends, almost all of whom were in attendance, to stand to be recognized and thanked for “helping to blaze the trail we are still on today.”
The keynote speaker was Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, presidential historian, author, and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library. Chervinsky provided even more context, breaking down the principles of America’s founding generation and the challenges the young country faced as they navigated moving beyond George Washington, up to the 125th anniversary of the United States, and on to today.
“I don’t say history always repeats itself, but it definitely rhymes,” Chervinsky said.
She explained that a highly polarized media and even the deep involvement of robber barons in American government is not new, nor is the ceding of Congressional authority and responsibility to the other branches of the U.S. government that has picked up recently but started several decades ago.
“I feel like this talk, this understanding of history, should be required for all new Members of Congress,” said one attendee.
The RMA Board of Directors also held a strategic planning session and Board meeting, and the event culminated in a “Yellowstone” themed dinner dance featuring musicians from the RMA family, Lou Rhody, Steven Westfall, and Jim Anderson, and Louisiana-based band Parish County Line.
“I am deeply honored to be entrusted with the chairmanship of this organization at this important moment in our history,” Rhody said. “RMA membership, which includes farmer-owned cooperatives, privately-owned mills, and associate members like exporters and shippers, represents virtually all of U.S. rice milling capacity. As we demonstrated repeatedly, we have a proud history and legacy, and look forward to another 125 years advocating for a healthy, united, and sustainable rice industry.”