Blog - Page 33 of 110 - US Rice Producers Association

This week, USRPA participated in the U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) Annual Workshop in Baltimore, MD, celebrating 40 years of partnership with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The three-day workshop focused on the national political outlook, Farm Bill update, export program funding, member campaigns in foreign markets, sustainability, and climate-smart issues, among other topics. It was also a great opportunity to meet with USRPA’s Marketing Specialist, Curtis McCoy, as well as network with a variety of agriculture industry members.
Breakout sessions gave the attendees a more intimate setting to discuss specific topics. The sessions offered focused on tackling trade barriers, enhancing outreach to buyers, program application updates, marketing strategies, contracting and travel tips for export programs, and the "secret sauce" for international success.
During the workshop, the USAEDC Board of Directors met to vote and elect Greg Tyler, President and CEO of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council as USAEDC's new Chairman. He previously served as the organization’s Secretary/Treasurer and will serve as the organization’s Chair for the next two years. Other newly elected officers include Karen Horan of the National Confectioners Association, Vice Chair, and Jeff Correa of Pear Bureau Northwest, Secretary/Treasurer. Previous Chair Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), will rotate to the Immediate Past Chair position on the Executive Committee.

Left to right: Newly elected Chair Greg Tyler and past Chair Jim Sutter.

House and Senate Avoid Shutdown and Extend Farm Bill Through the 2024 Crop Year
This week, both the House and Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the government beyond November 17. The “laddered” resolution extends funding deadlines for different parts of the Federal government in two steps: January 19 and February 2, 2024. The Department of Agriculture would be funded through January 19, 2024, when the following four appropriations bills will expire: the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration; Energy and Water; Military Construction-Veteran’s Administration; and Transportation Housing and Urban Development. The eight appropriations bills expiring on February 2, 2024, include Commerce-Justice-Science; Defense; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Interior-Environment; Labor-HHS-Education; Legislative Branch; and State and Foreign Operations. In addition, the bill would extend the 2018 Farm Bill until September 30, 2024, one year from when it expired. The commodity programs for rice and other program crops are extended through the 2024 crop. The bill also accounted for the farm bill programs without a baseline, often referred to as “orphan programs,” by providing them with one additional year of funding (equal to one-fifth of the funding provided for each program in the 2018 five-year farm bill). To offset the cost of this additional spending for these “orphan” programs, the bill rescinds $177 million in unobligated funds from the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program. After the proposal was released, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA), and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) released a joint press release noting how they were able to reach an agreement but that they remain committed to completing a five-year farm bill next year. The bill passed on a bipartisan vote in both chambers. In the House, it passed on a 336-95 vote on Tuesday, November 14. In the Senate, it passed on an 87-11 vote on Wednesday, November 15. It will now go to President Biden to be signed into law. The full text of the bill can be found here.

Meeting with Chairman Thompson

Left to right: Fred Clark, Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) of the US House of Representatives Committeeand Vernie Hubert.

The Good: We are the only suppliers of long-grain rice in the Western Hemisphere through the balance of the year to a large degree. The Bad: We can’t ship comfortably because of the low draft on the Mississippi River. The Ugly: Crop quality and milling yields have certainly been a challenge in most areas.
Right now, it’s all about crop quality. Last week we discussed the macro-factors impacting rice trade both globally and right here at home through the lens of climate risk and El Niño. This week, the chatter is that the deeper the mills get into this crop, it’s becoming clear that the initial reports of milling yields in the low 50's weren’t a fluke. In fact, some places in Louisiana and Arkansas would be happy to see milling yields in the 50’s, as the high 40’s is unfortunately becoming the norm. It is difficult to quantify exactly what this means to total supply at this point, but the market is beginning to indicate, via an increase in futures price, that the large acreage won’t necessarily result in a commiserate supply of milled product.
The market has also spiked on marketing year highs from the export sales report. Net sales were reported at 207,900 metric tons, largely from huge purchases from Mexico, the WTO purchase from South Korea (medium grain), and a large sale to Senegal. Exports were down this week by 70% from last week, but those will rebound as we begin to ship against the aforementioned sales. We have been saying for weeks now that the U.S. is the only place to buy rice in the Western Hemisphere until spring, and we are finally beginning to see those procurements tally up. The problem remains, however, low draft levels at the Mississippi River and the ensuing logistical cost increase to deliver.
Nothing is easy north or south. Demand for long grain, both rough and milled, continues to be strong, and new players have entered the U.S. market as a result of conditions in the normally exporting South American countries that are virtually sold out of rice. New crop planting is not going smoothly in Brazil or Paraguay due to heavy rains and flooding in key areas blamed on the El Niño weather pattern. Rumors of Asian milled rice imports into Brazil are rampant and Paraguayan rice farmers and mills that have the 2024 crop in the ground are booking sales to Brazil, a clear indication of the market circumstances.
The low milling yields are prompting the industry to look to the scientific community to find answers to help overcome the poor milling quality this year. Many are at a loss as to what happened, and questions have been asked if it was climatological factors, cultural practices, planting dates, strange weather patterns, a mixture of varieties, or a myriad of other things or all of the above. As more data comes to light here, we will be reporting on it.
In Asia, the action continues to settle down a bit, with Viet prices holding steady for two weeks in a row in the $660 pmt range, while Thai prices are registering nearly $100 pmt below that price at $565 pmt. Again, a spread this significant between these two exporters almost never happens, but would appear to be par for the course for the way things are going this year. Things could change quite radically, however, as India is reporting that their stocks are nearly double their normal levels. With statistics like these entering the marketplace, it is a clear telegraph that the export ban will be lifted, and likely sooner than later now that domestic food security is shored up and election pressure is likely alleviated.
As we head into Thanksgiving week, there is much to be thankful for, as we have faced these challenges in prior years. So have rice with your turkey!

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Last week, USDA announced more than $3 billion to provide assistance to commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2022. Eligible impacted producers can apply for financial assistance through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) 2022. Administered by FSA, the program will help offset the financial impacts of crop yield and value losses from qualifying disasters occurring in 2022. Producers can apply for ERP 2022 starting Oct. 31, 2023. The application deadline has not yet been determined and will be announced at a later date.

Last week, USRPA staff traveled to Guatemala City to visit promotional activities in retail stores and schools, continuing to engage with the Guatemalan rice association ARROZGUA to promote interest in U.S. rice in the market. USRPA CFO, Grace Wang successfully monitored promotional programs implemented at various retail locations.

USRPA’s Guatemala campaign USA Arroz targets consumers, mainly households and mothers, educating and promoting their consumption of U.S. rice. USRPA also successfully conducted audits of the programs in Guatemala through an in-person contractor interview and the examination of reports and documents.

Volume 20, Issue 46