ENGLAND, AR – Last week, following the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) meeting (see
USA Rice Daily, September 23, 2025) held in Rogers, Arkansas, a delegation of more than a dozen D.C.-based foreign attachés traveled here to see rice production in action.
The group consisted of representatives from a wide array of embassies, primarily representing their home country’s agricultural interests in Washington. In past years, the group of attachés has participated in a tour organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, but this year was left to plan their own and chose the NASDA meeting as a perfect jumping off point. Prior to their journey from northwest to eastern Arkansas, the delegation had dinner with representatives from USA Rice and Riceland Foods, and had an opportunity to lay the groundwork for what they’d see on their field trip.
Following meetings with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture in Little Rock, they traveled to Lonoke County and were hosted by rice farmer Mark Isbell on a tour of the Isbell Family Farm, small mill, and saké operation. “Many in the group had never seen an actual rice field and some of their home countries do not produce rice, let alone saké,” said Isbell.
Several of the participants were representing key U.S. rice export markets, including Canada, Colombia, European Union, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
“We were grateful for the opportunity to host these ag leaders from around the world and learn a bit about their parts of the world and the challenges their agricultural producers face while sharing our sustainability story around U.S. rice and the strides our industry has made in recent decades,” said Isbell. Some of their countries do grow rice and so it was fascinating for them to see production on a larger scale American operation versus a smallholder farming system.”
Before leaving Arkansas, the delegation stopped at Riceland Foods in Stuttgart to tour a larger commercial rice mill and see rice processed from paddy form to polished, white rice and packaged for consumers.