Hurricane Delta completes the trifecta of storms that the 2020 rice harvest has endured. Harvest of the second crop in Louisiana has been impacted in the form of lodging, flooding, and rice simply being knocked off the panicles. Mills and bins were left without power again, only a few short weeks after hurricane Laura ravaged the area. In Arkansas, this is yet another weather event that has extended harvest, but the largest rice producing state looks to have been mostly spared from hurricane Delta, and will finish without too much crop destruction. Arkansas is 83% complete as of the Oct. 11 USDA crop progress report, which is 9% behind the 5-year average. Mississippi and Missouri are both lagging their 5-year average by 6% and 10% respectively, but should be wrapping up in the next week or two as Missouri waits for the rice to ripen.   

Brazil’s need for rice came at a perfect time for the US, as the industry can finally service the demand with this large new crop that is approximately 20% larger than last year. We expect the first vessel to arrive for loading within the next seven days. Estimates peg Brazil’s imports in excess of 250 thousand metric tons when the milled imports from Pakistan and India are included. The timely Brazilian demand for US rice aides significantly in disappearance for this year’s larger crop. However, this has created a problem for the mills because the Brazil business is paddy exports; and this coupled with the established paddy exports to Mexico leaves mills with excess capacity. To remedy this, the industry is looking to Iraq to finally come through the tender that has been rumored for several weeks now. 

In Asia, severe flooding in Cambodia and Vietnam is causing destruction in at least 325,000 rice acres. Thai export prices continue to trend downwards to $460 MT, while Vietnamese prices firm a bit up to $475 MT. There is an anticipated increase of Chinese rice as their increased plantings more than offset the flood damage this year.

The cash market has remained relatively calm as harvest winds down. Very little to speak of in Louisiana and Missouri, but reports of sales in Texas at $6 premium over loan for rice with good milling yields have been reported. In Arkansas, early reports show that milling yields are strong, and cash bids are at or slightly below the board.

Export Sales reversed course this week, showing only 10,000 metric tons of sales, compared to the 258,100 metric tons from last week, and 127,100 metric tons from the week before. Exports however, reached their highest number in the last six weeks at 35,200 metric tons. The majority of these shipments were long grain rice to Colombia in the amount of 23,800 metric tons.

The futures market traded sideways to slightly down, with the nearby contract down 1.12%. The Sep 21 and Nov 21 contracts were both up 0.53% to $12.30. Open interest was slightly up by 2.66%.

Texas Rice Council met this week for their yearly planning meeting. The Texas Rice Council boards made up of Texas rice farmers who have been elected by Texas rice farmers from their area. The Texas Rice Council is charged with using check-off dollars for the promotion of rice, education and market development programs designed to improve the production, promotion and use of Texas rice. Thanks to the dedication and work of the Texas Rice Council on behalf of the farmers, Texas rice continues to be a player in the rice market and with the plans being put forth will only grow.

The Texas Rice Council discussed rescheduling different trade missions and promotions that were postponed due to COVID-19 and as well as listened to new proposals that will help promote Texas rice while educating consumers on its history, versatility in the kitchen and nutritional benefits. The board then enjoyed a BBQ lunch from Midway Barbecue in Katy, Texas.

After lunch, the Texas Rice Council also honored Dr. M.O. (Mo) Way with a plaque to thank him for his many years of service as Professor of Entomology at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center. Dr. M.O. Way who is set to retire, was very appreciative and made the crowd laugh with personal stories about almost everyone in the room. Dr. Way started his career at Texas AgriLife in 1982 and has come to be a very well respected entomology expert not only in Texas but around the world as he's been asked to present at national and international level conferences.

The Texas Rice Council directors are always available to Texas rice farmers to address any concerns or comments and encourage fellow rice farmers to become more involved. The next Board of Directors meeting will take place early next year.

want to briefly talk about a beneficial insect being found in abundance in ratoon rice in Colorado Co. west of Houston. The insect is called a hover fly or flower fly. It is in the Order: Diptera (flies) and the Family: Syrphidae. Most species look like bees, but flies have only 1 pair of wings while bees have 2 pairs. The adults feed mainly on pollen and nectar while the larvae of some species are excellent predators of aphids, leafhoppers and thrips. The larvae of other species are aquatic and called rat-tailed maggots because they possess a long siphon (looks like a rat tail) that allows them to breathe underwater. Rat-tailed maggots feed on organic matter in flooded rice fields.

Randy Waligura with Texana Seed in Garwood reported lots of hover flies in nearby rice fields, but Randy did not find any aphids, leafhoppers or planthoppers in these fields, so my guess is these hover flies emerged from rat-tailed maggots feeding underwater on all the organic debris left after main crop harvest. I plan on visiting these fields in the near future. 

Earlier this week the Farm Foundation forum featured the panel discussion “Focus on Farm Policy: Food and Agriculture Platforms of the 2020 Presidential Candidates.” The panel discussion examined the farm policies and positions from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, including agricultural trade, environmental policy, land management, and other issues such as World Trade Organization, China, Commodity Credit Corporation funding, renewable fuels policy, estate taxes, and Farm Bill funding for conservation programs, agricultural research, and crop insurance.

The panel included Samuel H. Clovis, Jr., member of the Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Campaign Coalition and 2016 national campaign co-chair to discuss the Trump platform and Pam Johnson, sixth-generation Iowa farmer and former president of the National Corn Growers Association to discuss the Biden platform.

Below is a link to the video of the full panel discussion.