Texas Rice Council held their regular October planning meeting in Houston this week with Tommy Turner of El Campo presiding as President of the organization. Rice farmers from the various counties of the Texas rice region participated and commented on their harvest results and conditions. Of particular concern to everyone was the lack of market demand for rice and the lack of storage available with the second crop harvest approaching. A lengthy discussion followed related to an on-going Texas rice industry sustainability project effort. Hopefully, the results of this project will be available for January 16, 2019, Texas Rice Council/Western Rice Belt Conference that will take place in El Campo.
Several board members commented on their recent trip to Guatemala, an important rice market for the U.S. Tommy Turner, Galen Franz (Victoria), Scott Savage (Bay City), Casey Smith (Hitchcock) and Trey Barker (Katy) traveled to Guatemala to observe rice promotional efforts conducted through a joint agreement of the USRPA and the Guatemala Rice Council (ArrozGua). The group also visited the farm of Alvaro Padilla and the ALCSA rice mill in addition to meetings with other leaders of the Guatemala rice industry. The Texas farmers also visited Todd Drennan and Sean Cox of the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in the US Embassy. Dr. Thomas Wynn and Dennis DeLaughter gave a World/US/Texas marketing report that as usual, generated considerable discussion among the farmers on the board. The group reviewed by-laws, the board election process and a financial report was given among other administrative issues.