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 Ryan Williamson |  Kylie Temple |
 Emily Glaze |  Madyson McAshlan |
| The US Rice Producers Association Ray Stoesser Memorial Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce its 2024 scholarship recipients. Ryan Williamson, a junior at Texas A&M University, will receive a $5,000 scholarship from the Stoesser family to continue his education. Williamson is a student in Texas A&M’s Business Honors program while also working toward a certificate in International Trade and Agriculture. Growing up in the rice farming community of El Campo, Texas, Ryan developed a passion for agriculture from a very young age. This passion eventually led him to become involved in 4-H and FFA, where he most recently completed his year of service as the 2022-2023 National FFA Western Region Vice President. In this position, he traveled to more than 30 states to meet with FFA members and stakeholders, deliver workshops and keynote addresses, and advocate for American agriculture. In addition to the monetary award, Williamson will serve as a student ambassador for USRPA in 2024. He will be invited to participate in various USRPA activities, including but not limited to Field Days, legislative activities, Texas Rice Council meetings, and conferences. The committee had a pool of exceptional candidates, which allowed them to extend scholarship offers to those who placed second, third, and fourth. Kylie Temple, a high school senior at Hermiston High School in Hermiston, OR will receive a $1500 scholarship. Emily Glaze, a high school senior from El Campo, TX will receive a $1000 scholarship, and Madyson McAshlan, a high school senior from Santa Fe, TX will receive a $500 scholarship. Born and raised in eastern Oregon, Temple is a four-time state winner in a multitude of FFA competitions including food science, prepared public speaking, and job interview, in which she placed top four nationally. She currently serves as the 2023-2024 Oregon FFA State Vice President, advocating for agriculture and leadership. After her year of service, she looks forward to attending university to pursue a degree in agriculture business and communications. Glaze, a high school senior from El Campo, Texas, will attend Texas Tech University this fall. She is heavily involved in 4-H and FFA, showing black Brangus cattle throughout Texas. She is a fourth-generation rice farmer and has a deep passion for all things ag-related. McAshlan is a senior at Friendswood High School and plans to attend West Texas A&M University to study Agriculture Communications and Media. She is a current Texas FFA Area lll Officer and the Galveston County 4-H Chairman. She has raised over 50 market lambs, and over 100 market rabbits, and started her own Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat operation, Twisted Elm Dairy Goats. Applicants of the Ray Stoesser Memorial Scholarship must be high school seniors or current college students who are interested in or are currently pursuing a career in an agriculture-related field. For more information, visit https://ricearchive.thesmartcrmsolution.com/scholarship. |
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| On Wednesday, the El Campo Civic Center hosted the 2024 Western Rice Belt Production Conference, attracting close to 300 members from the rice farming community. The morning session included presentations from Horizon Ag, RiceTec, DynaGro, and AgriLife Research on seed varieties. Additional topics covered during the conference comprised insecticides, an LCRA irrigation water update, rice production economics, and sustainable rice production. During lunch, the winners of the rice poster competition were announced. The afternoon session was resumed with a DC update from USA Rice, followed by presentations from the Texas Rice Research Foundation on current initiatives and the Texas Rice Council and US Rice Producers Association on promotion efforts. The agenda also included the utilization of agronomic data. The conference concluded with a USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service conservation program. "This event, with its comprehensive range of topics, is well-attended and serves to equip Texas rice producers with the knowledge and resources to succeed. It also acknowledges the support and contributions of several entities in helping them achieve their goals," Tommy Turner, President of the Texas Rice Council and USRPA Board Member, said.  Texas Rice Council President & USRPA Board Member Tommy Turner presents to the group, highlighting recent TRC and USRPA promotional efforts. |
Chairwoman Stabenow Proposes New Crop Insurance and Farm Program Reform
On Wednesday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) circulated a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter that outlined her proposal to strengthen the current farm safety net in the upcoming farm bill. She highlighted five key principles for modernizing the safety net, including targeting active farmers, providing choices and flexibility, timely assistance, expanding program reach, and addressing emerging risks for farmers.
The Chairwoman pointed to crop insurance as being a crucial tool to utilize and improve upon in the upcoming farm bill, calling for more affordable policy options across all commodities. While she recognized the need to update Title I reference prices, she suggested widespread reform to crop insurance could be a more effective solution to help combat challenges in the farm sector, such as supply chain disruptions and increased input costs, as opposed to the reliance on farm commodity programs during times of difficult market conditions. The letter also reiterated her commitment to a farm bill that fosters bipartisan support without taking funds from the nutrition and conservation titles.
| The steady market is a welcome respite from the supply shortage endured over the past two years. Mills are busy, as are paddy exporters, and it could almost be described as “perfect” if it weren’t for a milling yield that continues to put additional strain on the mills. There hasn’t been any expectation or reason to believe, but there’s still a sliver of hope that qualities might improve as we get deeper into the year, but no such luck. With that being said, demand is steady in both the export and domestic markets and cash bids are active. In Texas, prices on the ground are quoted at $18.75/cwt, while Louisiana is at $18.21/cwt. Prices in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri are quoted at $17.25/cwt. Prices in Asia continue to defy gravity on strong demand and no competition from India. It is still too early in the calendar year for buyers to weigh the Indian option against Thailand for Vietnam, so for the time being, they continue to benefit. India has found its way into the news again this week for its complete disregard for its WTO violations. The first citing comes in the form of India’s sustained urea demand. If the government was sincere about modernizing its agricultural systems and reducing subsidies, it would be reflected in reduced urea demand. However, India remained second to only China in its urea usage at nearly 35 million metric tons annually. Over the past four years, India has seen a stunning increase of 60 million agricultural workers. The second and most recent citing is India’s stubborn opposition to even addressing their rice and wheat subsidies until the WTO reaches a firm resolution on food grain stockholding. This is just another stall tactic India is using while its domestic policies increasingly have a distorting effect on the global rice trade. The USDA WASDE report came out just after publishing last week, and the U.S. Rice Outlook this month calls for slightly higher supplies, lighter exports, and higher ending stocks with steady domestic use. The NASS Crop Production 2023 Summary estimated all rice at 218.3 million cwt, down 1.4 million cwt from previous estimates, but up nearly 60 million cwt from last year. All rice imports were raised 2 million cwt to a record 42 million cwt, with the increase coming in long grain fragrant varieties. Changing gears to the global outlook, the USDA calls for reduced supplies, consumption, trade, and ending stocks this month. The drop in supplies is from a weak Chinese harvest, no exports from India’s absence in the export market, and lowered stocks as a result of China. Overall, the update points to what we have been mentioning for weeks, which is that the United States is positioned very well to take advantage of a tight supply in the Western Hemisphere. The harvest in Mercosur began in Paraguay 10-12 days ago and early reports are low yields due to widespread flooding. Heavy rainfall throughout northern Argentina, Uruguay and areas of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil are causing many to predict mediocre field yields. Weather in February and March will be key. So until then, we anticipate the market to remain firm with paddy and milled export sales continuing to race forward. It should be noted that the Panama Canal condition is detrimental to U.S. exports to Central America. Only Honduras has an Atlantic port. Drought conditions have the canal 30 percent lower than expected and have reduced the number of vessels. Passage is given through an auction process, meaning the highest bid gives you canal access. The USDA Export Sales report shows net sales of 110,000 MT this week, up noticeably from the previous week and up a whopping 85% from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Mexico (25,800 MT), Venezuela (22,000 MT), Guatemala (16,400 MT), Japan (15,900 MT), and Saudi Arabia (10,200 MT). Exports of 89,000 MT were up 86% from the previous week and 15% from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily Mexico (33,000 MT), Honduras (15,300 MT), Japan (15,300 MT), Saudi Arabia (9,300 MT), and Haiti (9,300 MT). The numbers are astounding when compared to last year—it’s great to have supply to export! |
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| Join us on February 10 for dinner, live and silent auctions,and live music supporting the Texas Rice Industry! |
Congress returned this week after its holiday recess. Now back, the top priority will be funding the federal government. In November, Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution which contained two funding deadlines for different parts of the government. The first of these deadlines — which includes USDA — is January 19, giving Congress just under two weeks to avert a partial government shutdown once they return. The remainder of the government will be funded through February 2. While Congress was able to extend the farm bill until September 30, both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are continuing work on drafting the next farm bill. Timing will depend on the appropriations process as well as other dynamics in both chambers but there is still hope and desire to have movement in early 2024.
USTR Ambassador travels to India
This week, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai traveled to India for the annual U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum. During this visit, Ambassador Tai will meet with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of External Affairs, where one topic of discussion is expected to be agricultural trade. Last year, the U.S partnered with other rice-exporting countries in filing a counter-notification at the World Trade Organization which alleges that India has over-subsidized its rice production. The U.S. has not filed a formal trade case against India.
On Monday, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) announced it would be awarding over $203 million through the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program for fiscal year 2024. This funding will go to roughly 70 agricultural organizations to support agricultural export market expansion and development efforts. Of this total amount, FAS will provide $174.3 million to 68 nonprofit organizations and cooperatives through MAP and $27 million to 20 trade organizations through FMD. US Rice Producers Association was awarded MAP funding for the 27th year in a row. This funding is crucial in allowing U.S. rice to maintain its market share in established markets, as well as opening new markets. The funding allocations through MAP can be found here and through FMD can be found here. |
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