Class spokesperson Andy Brown delivers graduation address under the watchful eye of Program Director Dr. Steve Linscombe
Feb 11, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC – The USA Rice Farm Policy Fly-in held here this week marked the final leg in the two-year Rice Leadership Development Class program and the 2024 Class participated in events and were recognized at a graduation ceremony.
On Monday, the group, consisting of five rice farmers and two industry representatives, visited the USA Rice headquarters to get an overview on the industry organization and mission areas before heading out to meetings at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Embassy of Canada.
On Tuesday, the class attended the fly-in briefing session, hearing remarks from Senator John Boozman, USDA Under Secretary Richard Fordyce, USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden, EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Kyle Kunkler, USDA Senior Trade Policy Advisor Peter Laudeman, and others, including representatives from Farm Credit Council and the American Farm Bureau.
They then had a formal graduation ceremony where they received diplomas and a special leadership alumni lapel pin.
Class spokesperson, Andy Brown from Walker, Louisiana, shared not just about what he learned about rice through the program, but about what he learned about his classmates and what they all shared going through the program together – from the birth of children to policy debates late into the night.
“In interviewing for this program, it stands out very clearly that the panel wants to make sure you’re dedicated to the rice industry,” Brown said. “After spending two years with these folks, I can tell you, we are truly dedicated to rice. But it’s also about being dedicated to each other. I know it’s a tough time to be in rice, but that’s the value of this program. When things get tough, these are the people who show up. And it’s the people we leave running things back home so that we can come and do this important work at the Outlook Conference, or the business meetings, or wherever this organization goes. That's what's going to keep me dedicated to rice for the rest of my career. It's going to be all of you that have believed in me and believed in my classmates.”
Brown thanked the program sponsors: American Commodity Company, John Deere Company, RiceTec, and Supreme Rice, and all the alumni and industry representatives who hosted the group along the way.
“I'm honored to be able to represent my graduating class, and I'm personally humbled that Louisiana has taken me in so – a hillbilly from Mississippi – and taught me rice,” he said. “And now, through this program, I feel like myself and my six classmates are fully a part of USA Rice. It's been a wonderful experience; the best leadership program I've ever heard about or been a part of, and if there's ever any question that this is a program worth investing in or continuing, I can attest, from somebody that works in other spaces, you have something very special in this program.”
The newly minted graduates then joined their individual home state delegations making visits on Capitol Hill to speak with legislators and their staffs about the economic challenges facing the rice industry among other issues.
In addition to Brown, class members are Allen Anderson, East Bernard, Texas; Carissa Lee, Maxwell, California; John McLain, Abbeville, Louisiana; Cole Reiners, Mowata, Louisiana; Jason Satterfield, Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Everett Willey, Nicolaus, California.