ACTIONS PLANNED FOR REVITALIZING TEXAS RICE INDUSTRY

Writer: Steve Hill, (979) 845-2895

HOUSTON — Facing unprecedented challenges to its viability, the Texas rice industry used February’s Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Rice Summit to adopt an action plan for dealing with its most critical issues.

The Feb. 21 summit in Houston began with calls for unity and concerted action from several speakers, but quickly focused on setting up plans for that action.

“We have a choice: to back off or to step forward and face these problems together,” said Bob Stallman, Texas Farm Bureau president, at the opening of the discussion to set action plans.

The key to solving those problems is to carry out the plans developed, said Dr. Edward A. Hiler, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M University. The tasks before the industry are difficult, but can be accomplished, he told the gathering.

“Often the opportunity for the greatest advance is in the time when we have the greatest challenge,” Hiler said.

Leadoff speakers detailed several of those challenges, including declining rice acreage in Texas, potential loss of milling and refining infrastructure, limited future water supplies, and legislation that encourages some landowners to take rice land out of production.

Texas had 249,000 acres of rice land in 1996, down from more than 500,000 acres in the 1980s, said Steve Balas, a member of the Texas Rice Producers Board and the summit’s co-chair.

After the morning’s speakers, four breakout groups focused on prioritizing key issues, then identifying actions to address those issues and assigning responsibility for the actions. Individuals or groups responsible for those actions were also named, and planning for implementing those actions was to begin immediately after the summit.

The breakout groups focused on markets and marketing; production efficiency; tenant, landlord and infrastructure issues; and water, wildlife and environmental issues.

The markets and marketing group identified two top issues: improving producers’ marketing abilities through education and communication with millers, as well as expanding markets for Texas rice.

Among that group’s suggested actions were developing a Texas rice office to aid in market information and education dissemination, as well as identifying needs and acquiring funding for genetically engineered rice with patents controlled by Texas producers.

The production efficiency group’s main issues were increasing Texas rice yields while maintaining high quality, reducing production costs, improving communications among parties dealing with production efficiency, improving producer understanding of research progress, and improving accountability for research and education programs.

Among the suggested actions for that group were simplification of funding proposal processes, development of instructional videos for producers, and reduction of the need for pesticide applications.

The tenant, landlord and infrastructure group identified three key issues. They were maintaining production levels to sustain an effective Texas rice industry infrastructure, sustaining rice acreage despite incentives for landlords to idle rice land, and improving education on tenant-landlord issues.

Among the action items suggested were more research on alternative crops in rotation with rice, increasing producer checkoff funds for programs, and develop strategies for affecting legislation or rules related to tenant-landlord issues.

Two key issues were identified by the water, wildlife and environment breakout group. They were maximizing the benefits of water, wildlife and the environment to the rice industry and determining the impacts of rice production on the environment.

Among the actions suggested were development of a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve, exploring state fee mechanisms to fund habitat development, and studying the effects of decreased rice acreage on migratory birds.

The Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initiative was founded to identify and resolve the critical issues facing Texas agriculture by bringing together representatives from every sector.

The initial summit in 1993 was followed by numerous smaller conferences across the state to further expand the partnerships and dialogue among stakeholders.

-30-