US Rice Producers Association

USRPA Press Releases
October 5, 2007	Rice Producers Disappointed by Results of Genetically Engineered Rice Investigation HOUSTON - On behalf of the thousands of rice farmer members of the US Rice Producers Association, we appreciate very much the dedicated and tireless efforts of the officials and employees of the Department of Agriculture in connection with the investigation of the limited release of regulated genetic material into the commercial U.S. rice supply. While we are impressed by USDA’s dedication, we are nonetheless disappointed with the results of the report released today. We lament that APHIS’s current recordkeeping and related regulatory requirements did not provide investigators the tools they needed to reconstruct the complete picture of what caused this expensive episode. ...more
July 10, 2007	US Rice Producers Association Elects New Officers for 2007-2009 HOUSTON - Gary Fioranelli, a rice farmer from Cleveland, Mississippi was elected as the new Chairman of the Board of the US Rice Producers Association for the period of 2007-2009 during a board meeting last week in Tunica, Mississippi. Gary Murphy, a rice farmer from Bernie, Missouri was elected as the Vice- Chairman and Ray Stoesser, a rice farmer from Dayton, Texas is the new Secretary-Treasurer of the organization....more
July 9, 2007	Rice Industry Supports House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Draft WASHINGTON — The USA Rice Federation and US Rice Producers Association support the draft farm program language released July 6 by Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN). That language will serve as the base text for the Commodity Title at the full committee markup scheduled for July 17. Chairman Peterson’s proposal would maintain the current safety net for rice producers and continue the balance between loan rates, direct payments and target prices that has worked so well as part of the current farm bill....more
June 18, 2007	Rice Industry Concerned over House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Commodity Title WASHINGTON — The USA Rice Federation and the U.S. Rice Producers Association are reviewing the provisions of the House Agriculture Committee’s draft farm bill commodity title that will be used as the basis for the General Farm Commodities Subcommittee markup scheduled for June 19 and are concerned with its direction....more
May 22, 2007	First Rice Congress of the Americas 2007 Held in Mexico HOUSTON - Representatives from twenty-three different countries throughout the Western Hemisphere met in Cancun, Mexico last week to discuss the current status of the rice market and the government policies that influence the rice trade in the region. Of particular importance was the unanimous adoption of a resolution calling upon the U.S. government and the U.S. Congress to eliminate economic and commercial sanctions and to normalize travel regulations...more
March 22, 2007	Urgent: March 30 Deadline Comment on Ventria Pharmaceutical Rice HOUSTON - Friday, March 30th is the deadline for the comment period to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) concerning the Ventria Bioscience permit application to conduct pharmaceutical rice research on thousands of acres of open field plantings in Kansas. Rice farmers and all related businesses of the rice industry are encouraged to submit a comment of NOT SUPPORTING the production of pharmaceutical rice under the current safety and containment guidelines. Ventria Bioscience, a Sacramento based company filed with the USDA last month for a permit to produce genetically engineered (GE) pharmaceutical rice that will express human proteins...more
November 30, 2006	U.S. Rice Supply: Healthy Eating Rice Producers, Greenpeace Founder Agree: Critics of U.S. Rice Supply Ignore Sound Science and Logic HOUSTON - After last week's announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regarding the deregulation of genetically engineered LLRice601, the U.S. Rice Producers Association is challenging the critics of GE rice to review the safety of this technology and to engage in the debate on honest, productive terms. A thorough review of scientific evidence was conducted prior to USDA’s announcement, and USDA indicated that the final environmental assessment will be available December 1, 2006 and published in the Federal Register...more
March 23, 2006	2006 Loan Rates to Maintain Historical Support Relationships, FSA Administrator Says WASHINGTON — The USA Rice Federation and the US Rice Producers Association welcome the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement that rice loan rates for the 2006 crop will continue to reflect historical support relationships...more
February 9, 2006	Texas Rice Research Under Attack HOUSTON - The President’s proposed budget for 2007 was unveiled on Monday. The Department of Agriculture is hit with the third largest cut of any agency, on a percentage basis -- about 8% of current spending. Among the various agencies, the Agricultural Research Service to save $34.5 million. In order to do that, the USDA-ARS Rice Research Unit at Beaumont will be eliminated on October 1st, 2007. This would nearly cut in half the funding available for rice research in Texas...more

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