Rice industry outlines priorites for new solons

On Monday, the leaders of eight rice growers’ groups sent a joint letter to all House and Senate farm bill conferees congratulating them on their appointment, and outlining key priorities for the rice industry.

Among the priorities supported by the growers’ groups are: Price Loss Coverage policies in Title I that will help American farmers deal with global price volatility, the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) in the crop insurance title that is more suited to address the unique challenges faced by rice growers, and the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program that are vitally important to the export-oriented industry.

“Rice is very susceptible to global price volatility, and as we only produce 2% of the world’s rice, global trends can hit our farmers hard,” said John Owen, a rice farmer from Louisiana, Chairman of the USA Rice Producers’ Group and one of the letter’s signatories.  “At the same time, American rice growers export about 45% of the rice they grow, so that means access to those markets is very important.  We also wanted the conferees to remember that traditional crop insurance programs tend to be less effective for rice farmers because of the premium cost of the policies relative to the coverage offered.  That’s why we support the SCO structure.”

The groups also voiced concerns with several aspects of the current bills, particularly with regard to newly proposed eligibility requirements and payment limits that they say are disconnected from the realities faced by today’s rice farmers.

“We look forward to working with all the conferees and are hopeful a fair and equitable farm bill will be agreed upon, passed by Congress, and signed by the President quickly,” Owen added.

In addition to the USA Rice Federation, the signatories on the letter were the USA Rice Producers’ Group, Arkansas Rice Farmers, California Rice Producers’ Group, Louisiana Rice Producers’ Group, Mississippi Rice Council, Missouri Rice Producers’ Group, and the Texas Rice Producers Legislative Group.