In This Issue:
- Rice Market Remains Firm as Delta Harvest Continues at Full Speed
- Ralston Family Farms Marks Historical Moment Selling U.S. Grown Rice to China
- Washington DC Update
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Market Remains Firm as Delta Harvest Continues at Full Speed |
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Harvest is in full swing in Arkansas. Most other aspects of the industry have slowed to accommodate, as cash bids in the region haven’t changed because farmers are more interested in bringing in the crop than selling it for the next few weeks. Expectations are that cutting will continue through the end of October—and bids will likely surface before then as well as quality and yields materialize. Texas is all but finished, and Louisiana is rounding the final turn to its harvest as well. Prices in Louisiana are $13.55 per cwt and $14.33 per cwt in Texas. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri are still in the $14.50-$15.25 range until new crop supplies become more liquid. Mississippi is approximately 25% done, but it will be a long harvest there because of the spread-out planting season.
Ida’s impacts are starkly evident, as US grain exports out of Gulf Terminals are at their lowest levels in years. Corn exports for last week were the lowest in eight years, and 85% lower than this time last year. Soybeans are bouncing along seven-year lows, with only one boat to China being loaded last week. Soybean inspections are down 94% compared to this time last year. Over 50 bulk vessels were awaiting entry along the Mississippi River earlier this week as the power grid struggles to keep up with demand and a strained supply chain.
In Washington, DC, the $3.5 trillion Democratic spending plan has direct implications for agriculture. The legislation includes $7.75 billion for agricultural research, $18.145 billion for rural development and energy, as well as $40 billion for forestry. There is $35 billion in spending for child nutrition programs, and the promise of $28 billion in conservation programs that is not currently in the spending package. There is still a long way to go as this plan works its way through Washington, DC.
In Asia, pricing is little changed on account of slowing demand and the inability to ship. Thai prices softened to $380 per metric ton, while Viet prices firmed to $410 per metric ton. India is also softening in line with Thailand, registering at the $380 per metric ton level. Fresh demand out of West Africa could help buoy pricing in the coming weeks. If the export trends continue, India could ship as much as 22 million metric tons this year, eclipsing the other top three exporting origins combined, and account for nearly half of global exports this year. This news comes off reports that China may begin sourcing rice from India as well.
The USDA Export Sales report shows net sales of 31,500 metric tons for this week, down 7% from last week and 39% from the four-week average. NGOs out of Haiti are in full swing, as sales to the politically embattled country registered 15,200 metric tons. Mexico came in at 8,900 metric tons, Canada at 5,100 metric tons, and smaller amounts to El Salvador, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Exports jumped up this week to 83,100 metric tons, an increase of 188% compared to last week, and 38% over the four-week average. Shipments were 31,700 metric tons to Mexico, 27,500 metric tons to Venezuela, 9,900 metric tons to Guatemala, and just over 4,000 metric tons to each El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.
The futures market responded with a slight uptick as a result of the most recent Supply/Demand report from the USDA. Average Daily Volume as 522, up 32% from last week, and Open Interest held steady at 8,066. Continued milled export sales will be necessary to keep the bullish sentiment.
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Did you know there’s rice growing in Illinois? Last week, USRPA staff member Mollie Buckler met with Sam Schneider, owner of Inland Cape Rice Company, at his family farm near McClure, IL. McClure is just across the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau, MO. |
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Ralston Family Farms Marks Historical Moment Selling U.S. Grown Rice to China |
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Ralston Family Farms’ marketing efforts brought encouraging news for the entire U.S. rice industry this week with a historical sale of U.S. grown rice to China. Grace Wang, USRPA’s Eastern Hemisphere Director, attended the press conference hosted by Ralston Family Farms in Atkins, Arkansas on September 15, 2021. Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson, and Agriculture Commissioner, Wes Ward, commemorated the event, commenting positively on the news and emphasizing the importance of the sale not only for the company but also for the state’s economy.
Details of the release from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture can be found here.
The US Rice Producers Association was the first rice organization to venture into this market, and over the past 20+ years, USRPA has actively engaged with buyers with funding from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service programs. The USDA first awarded USRPA Emerging Market Progam funds in 2007, which were used to launch consumer research and promotional programs, including surveys, rice tastings, and visiting retail stores throughout China. The results of these activities while conducting meetings with government officials and importers ultimately led to the rice protocol established between the two governments, allowing business to take place.
The US Rice Producers Association actively reached out to Ralston Famy Farms, along with other rice mills, to assist them in registering for the government-approved list of mills to export to China. USRPA continues its marketing outreach in China, increasing awareness and building relations with the Chinese rice industry. This year, USRPA is focusing its efforts on a digital marketing campaign in China via social media, e-newsletters, a video blog as well as press coverage to emphasize the many benefits of U.S. rice.
Grace Wang reports that Chinese trade and consumers continue to show growing interest in U.S. rice and this recent sale resonates well with our marketing message that U.S. rice is of high quality, adheres to the highest safety standards, is sustainably grown, and is traceable from farm to table. Congratulations to Ralston Family Farms!
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Pictured left to right: Arkansas Ag Commissioner, Wes Ward, Tim Ralston, Robin Ralston, Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson, and Ralston’s daughters. |
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Arkansas Ag Commissioner, Wes Ward, Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchingson, and Tim Ralson on Ralston Farms. |
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Arkansas Ag Commissioner, Wes Ward, Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchingson, touring Ralston's facilities with Tim Ralston. |
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2021 Virtual Rice Field Day |
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Meet Justin Chlapecka, Assistant Professor and Rice Extension Specialist, University of Missouri. Justin’s role is a new partnership between the University of Missouri and the Missouri Rice Research & Merchandising Council. |
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Jim Heiser, Senior Research Associate-Weed Science, University of Missouri, provided a Rice Herbicide Research Update for Missouri’s 2021 Virtual Rice Field Day. Watch the entire Field Day program here. |
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2021 Virtual Rice Field Day is Now Live |
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On Monday the House Agriculture Committee approved their approximately $90 billion agriculture-related portion of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. The agriculture package will be part of President Biden’s Build Back Better plan and was approved on a partisan vote of 27-24. The legislation was approved despite missing approximately $28 billion in conservation spending, which Chairman Scott, D-GA indicated would be added to the reconciliation package before it is considered on the House floor.
The bill was debated for nine hours the previous Friday and all amendments to the bill were defeated. Republicans’ opposition focused on the level of spending in the bill and its priorities. The provisions in the bill are generally intended to address climate change with rural development also included. The bill will provide the following:
- $7.75 billion in investments in agricultural research and infrastructure.
- $18 billion in rural investments for clean water and renewable energy, and to support investment in renewable biofuels infrastructure.
- $40 billion in investments in forestry programs.
The path forward on the legislation is unclear. Speaker Pelosi has scheduled the bill to be considered before the end of the month. Moderate Democrats in the House have expressed concern about the amount of spending in the bill and some of its tax provisions, such as those related to inheritance tax stepped-up basis. The Ways and Means Committee completed their markup of the bill, and it remains to be seen if their efforts to address the issue were totally successful. Of course, in the Senate, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has expressed strong opposition to a $3.5 trillion spending bill and has expressed his strong desire to slow the process to determine if past spending bills were successful and how much current spending is needed.
NOMINATIONS
This week President Biden announced several nominations which are of special interest to agriculture. On the agriculture commodity business side, he nominated the following individuals to serve a Commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission:
- Rostin Behnam, Nominee for Chair and Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Kristin Johnson, Nominee for Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Christy Goldsmith Romero, Nominee for Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Rostin Behnam joined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2017 as a Commissioner, and since January 2021 has served as the Acting Chairman. During his tenure, Behnam has fostered public and private partnerships to ensure that the derivatives markets operate transparently and fairly and innovate responsibly while addressing new and emergent risks. Behnam prioritizes safeguarding customer protections, examining potential systemic market risk, and engaging in public dialog on globally significant issues such as climate-related financial market risk, interest rate benchmark reform, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial markets, and the rise of retail participation in emerging markets.
In 2019, Behnam spearheaded the establishment of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee’s Climate Related Market Risk Subcommittee. He requested the September 2020 report Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, the first of-its-kind effort from a U.S. government entity. Behnam previously served as senior counsel to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, practiced law in New York City, and worked at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General within the Bureau of Securities. Behnam earned an A.B. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law.
Kristin N. Johnson is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. She works on financial markets risk management law and policy with specialization in the regulation of complex financial products including the origination, distribution, and secondary market trading, clearing, and settlement of securities and derivatives. She has lectured at law schools throughout the United States and published on financial markets regulation. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an American Bar Foundation Fellow, and Chair-Elect of the Securities Regulation Section of the Association of American Law Schools. Before joining Emory, Kristin served as an Associate Dean and McGlinchey Stafford Professor of Law at Tulane University Law School.
Prior to her academic appointments, Kristin practiced law firm in New York City advising domestic and international clients on diverse financial transactions. After attending the University of Michigan Law School where she served as an editor of the Michigan Law Review, she clerked for the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. of the District Court of New Jersey, elevated to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Christy Goldsmith Romero is the Special Inspector General for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). Ms. Goldsmith Romero was nominated as Special Inspector General by President Barack Obama on February 1, 2012 and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2012. In that role, she leads an independent office conducting investigations and audits of federal programs created in response to the financial crisis. Since 2019, Ms. Goldsmith Romero has also served as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and University of Virginia Law School, teaching courses in securities regulation, cryptocurrency regulation, and federal oversight.
Ms. Goldsmith Romero previously served in various roles at SIGTARP, and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She served as counsel to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro and Chairman Christopher Cox, and as an attorney in the SEC Division of Enforcement. Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. Goldsmith Romero was a litigator at the law firms of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Snell & Wilmer; and Jenner & Block. She also served a federal judicial clerkship. Ms. Goldsmith Romero earned a B.S. in business from Old Dominion University and a J.D. from Brigham Young University Law School.
On the agricultural trade side, President Biden announced that Elaine Trevino, would be the nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the United States Trade Representative Elaine Trevino is the President of the Almond Alliance of California (AAC), a member-based trade association that advocates on regulatory and legislative issues in areas of international trade, food safety, water quality and availability, crop protection, air quality, worker safety, supply chain and feed quality. As the leader of an organization that advocates for California’s leading agricultural export, Elaine understands tariff and nontariff barriers to trade and the importance of maintaining America’s strong trade agreements and global positioning. Elaine has worked on advocating for funding for COVID-19 relief, addressing retaliatory tariffs, climate-smart farming, public private partnerships for opening new markets and strengthening existing markets and addressing technical sanitary and phytosanitary barriers. Elaine works at the local and federal levels on addressing port congestion, supply chain disruptions and excessive costs.
Elaine served as a Deputy Secretary at the California Department of Food and Agriculture for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Governor Gray Davis. She was responsible for the oversight of the international export and trade programs, specialty crop block grant funding, division of marketing services, plant health and pest prevention and the statewide county fair network. Elaine serves on USDA’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC). Born and raised in the Central Valley of California, Elaine has a long history of community service and has great respect for agriculture and the value of the industry to the overall economy. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Elaine and her family currently reside in Sacramento, California.
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Food & Ag
Regulatory & Policy Roundup
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University of Arkansas Virtual Rice and Soybean Field Day (tentative date) |
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2022 Rice Technical Working Group: Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Conference Hotel: Embassy Suites Hot Springs.
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34th Annual Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon: Embassy Suites, Little Rock, Arkansas – event details and tickets (RESCHEDULED) |
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25722 Kingsland Blvd.
Suite 203
Katy, TX 77494
p. (713) 974-7423
f. (713) 974-7696
www.usriceproducers.org
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