From the Editor

Keep your eye on the ball

If you were ever taught to play a sport successfully, you were probably told to keep your eye on the ball. Stay focused. Look at the right place at the right time. This also is good training to help you achieve your goals in life or even produce a healthy, bountiful rice crop.

Determine what you are trying to accomplish and then pay attention to what it will take to get there. This month’s cover story is about the Rice Leadership Development Program. If you are 25 to 45 years of age and aspire to having a positive impact on the future of our rice industry, it would be worth your while to apply to this program. Carroll Smith

According to The Rice Foundation, the Rice Editor Leadership Development Program “gives future leaders a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an emphasis on personal development and communication skills. The class attends four one-week sessions over a two-year period that encompasses studies of all aspects of the rice industry through firsthand observations.” If those who are chosen to be in the program “keep their eye on the ball,” they will have a good chance of achieving the goals they have set for themselves.

Dr. Steve Linscombe, who directs the program on behalf of USA Rice and The Rice Foundation, said, “I’ve never heard anyone say that it was a mistake; everybody that has been through the program says, ‘This is one of the best things I’ve done.’”

Switching gears to the production side of rice, consider how you might prepare for the potential threat of a fall armyworm invasion this year. The pest sneaked in early last year and caught everyone off guard. On page 19, Nick Bateman, University of Arkansas Extension entomologist, recaps what happened and shares some “lessons learned.” He also discusses how defoliation thresholds are gaining popularity over number of worms per square foot.

The take home message here is to keep your eye on your fields and learn what 10% versus 20% rice defoliation looks like.

“In a year like this where it’s going to be more costly in general to produce the crop, I am going to let the armyworms prove to me they can get up to those defoliation thresholds before I spray for them,” Bateman said.

It’s no secret that this rice growing season has the potential to be challenging on several fronts. That’s why it’s important to concentrate on what you are trying to accomplish, don’t let your guard down and always keep your eye on the ball.

Carroll

EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION

Editor-In-Chief Carroll Smith csmith@onegrower.com

Copy Editor Amanda Huber ahuber@onegrower.com

Assistant Editor Cassidy Nemec cnemec@onegrower.com

Digital Content Editor Katie Guthrie kguthrie@onegrower.com

Art Director Ashley Kumpe akumpe@onegrower.com

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ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS — One Grower Publishing LLC also publishes COTTON FARMING, THE PEANUT GROWER, SOYBEAN SOUTH and CORN SOUTH magazines. RICE FARMING (ISSN 0194-0929) is published monthly January through May, and Decem ber, by One Grower Publishing LLC, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017. Period icals postage paid at Memphis, Tennesee, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to OMEDA COMMUNICATIONS, CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX 1388, NORTHBROOK, IL 60065-1388. Annual subscriptions are $25.00. International rates are $55.00 Canada/Mexico, $90.00 all other countries for Air-Speeded Delivery. (Surface delivery not available due to problems in reliability.) $5.00 single copy.

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2022 Rice Awards Nomination Form

The Rice Farmer of the Year, Rice Industry Award and Rice Lifetime Achievement Award recognize those rice leaders who have demonstrated dedication, determination and innovation to the industry. We need your help to identify candidates who are worthy of these prestigious awards. Please take time to consider which industry members in your area should be recipients of these honors and mail or scan/email this form and supporting materials.

Categories:

Please check the box of the appropriate award category:

 Rice Farmer of the Year Award

■ Must farm at least 200 acres. ■ A farmer who has successfully achieved goals in his/her farming operation, rice industry association, community leadership/development, innovative production practices and/or environmental stewardship.

 Rice Industry Award

■ Has been in the rice industry for more than five years. ■ A researcher, Extension person, government/association leader, etc... who has demonstrated commitment to the rice industry through innovative practices, industry association, community leadership/development.

 Rice Lifetime Achievement Award

■ Has been in the rice industry for more than 10 years. ■ An industry leader who has provided great contributions to the rice industry through industry associations, community leadership/development, innovative practices/projects that have advanced the industry.

Deadline: June 30, 2022

If you are submitting more than one nomination form, please make a copy before you fill out the form. Nomination forms can be downloaded or submitted online at www.ricefarming.com.

Nominee’s name

Nominee’s address

Nominee’s phone number/email address

Nominee’s rice acreage (if applicable)

Number of years involved in the rice industry (if applicable)

Your name

Your profession

Your address

Your phone number/email address

Your signature Date

Please send completed form & supporting materials to: Carroll Smith 7201 Eastern Ave., Germantown, TN 38138 Scan/Email: csmith@onegrower.com

Include supporting materials to elaborate on your nomination:

In addition to completing this form, on a separate piece of paper, please describe the nominee in terms of the following guidelines: Dedication to farming and/or agriculture and the rice industry, local community and education. Determination to succeed and overcome hurdles that have emerged while trying to reach goals. Innovation to identify new and better ways for the industry to become more profitable, manage risk, achieve a higher level of efficiency. It also is helpful to send letters of recommendation for the nominee from other individuals in the rice industry who are familiar with his/her accomplishments. A panel of judges from across the Rice Belt will select the recipients of the 2022 Rice Awards.

The award recipients will be honored at the USA Rice Outlook Conference, Dec. 7-9 in Austin, Texas, where an official presentation will be made at the awards luncheon. They also will be featured in a special salute sponsored by Horizon Ag, USA Rice and Rice Farming magazine in the December 2022 issue.

SPONSORS

By Betsy Ward President and CEO USA Rice

Rice leading the way to zero

Last year, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration launched an initiative called “Closer to Zero” to identify actions the agency can take to reduce exposure to toxic elements from foods eaten by babies and children. You know where this is going: to infant rice cereal and to arsenic in rice. But it might surprise you to learn that we welcomed the program because the agency is promising a rigorous, science-based approach in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Consider the alternative. Last fall, egged on by Consumer Reports that is in the habit of cherry-picking data and then using hucksters like Dr. Oz to whip up his base of fact-starved viewers, staff at the House Oversight Committee issued a report so light on rigor on the subject, that calling it a “report” is an insult to last-minute middle school book reports everywhere. Last month I testified at a USDA public meeting on Closer to Zero and told them I’m proud that, according to FDA data, the overwhelming majority of U.S.-grown rice, and certainly all rice used in infant cereals, meets a 100 parts per billion (ppb) threshold for inorganic arsenic in rice destined for baby food that FDA has set. And that according to the According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, it has United Nations and launched an initiative called “Closer to Zero” to identify actions the agency will take to reduce exposure to arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury from foods eaten by babies and young children — to as low as possible. the World Health Organization, U.S.grown rice has the lowest levels of inorganic arsenic in the world. I reminded them that the U.S. rice industry has spent millions of dollars on research to understand the issue and identify mitigation strategies, and that we have been transparent throughout, sharing our research with the FDA.

U.S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION

Multi-state research proposal

And we are building on that legacy. The USA Rice Food Safety Management Practices Task Force has partnered with researchers and Extension specialists on a comprehensive multi-state research proposal called “Closing in on Zero: A Sustainable Model to Reduce Heavy Metal Concentrations and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Rice Production” that we have submitted to USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The proposal seeks to identify current and potential alternative rice production practices, study the economic viability and potential obstacles to those practices, develop producer decision tools, create an educational and training platform to disseminate new technologies to the rice industry and the public and provide innovative educational opportunities for the next generation of rice producers and scientists, all in the name of moving the U.S. rice industry “closer to zero.”

End-product testing is skewed

But as I testified, this is not a rice issue. It is a food issue. The most prevalent source of arsenic in the American diet is fruits, vegetables and juices.

But since rice is the only product for which there is an action level, rice is disproportionately impacted by the regulatory framework. Essentially, any level of inorganic arsenic in baby food is possible because only products with rice are regulated.

I testified that unless and until other ingredients used in baby food have action levels established for any contaminants they may contain, USA Rice objects to the sole reliance on end-product testing of baby food simply because it contains rice.

I also shared the undeniable health benefits of rice in baby food that come from studies at the Centers for Disease Control. There’s a reason we’ve all been fed rice cereal.

Once again, I am proud of our record as an industry — accepting our obligations and responsibilities and committing precious resources to better understand and mitigate problems.

I know you are dedicated to providing a healthy and nutritious staple food for children and adults here and around the world, and I am just as dedicated to making sure you can.

Thank you for your support and have a safe and productive growing season.