News Release Distributed 12/15/11
AUSTIN, Texas – LSU AgCenter entomologist Natalie Hummel was accepted for the USA Rice Leadership Program. Nobel Guedon of Natchez, Miss., who farms in Louisiana, also was accepted into the program.
The announcement was made during USA Rice Federation Outlook Conference.
Others accepted into the class are Brian Barrett and Brice Lauppe, both of California; Rance Daniels, of Missouri, Timothy Gertson, of Texas, and Clint Roth, of Arkansas.
Managed by the USA Rice Federation, the program is sponsored by John Deere Co., RiceTec and the American Commodity Company through a grant to the Rice Foundation.
Hummel and Guedon also were on a conference panel that discussed the use of social media in agriculture.
Guedon said he stays in contact with other farmers, friends, landlords and equipment suppliers through various social media functions.
Jim Morris, of the California Rice Commission, said social media is a way to get information to a target audience. “There’s a lot of proof out there that this is working.”
Stacey Fitzgerald-Redd, communications director for USA Rice, said the organization has used social media to get the word out about the health benefits of eating rice.
“I haven’t had one negative reaction in any of the communications,” she said.
Guedon said he stays in touch with farming friends on the Southern Farming page of Facebook.
Hummel, who has a rice insect web log, said an LSU AgCenter study showed 48 percent of Americans use a form of social media.
Also at the conference, Ducks Unlimited received the USA Rice Federation's Distinguished Conservation Achievement Award, which recognizes the organization's leadership in and contributions to U.S. wetlands and waterfowl conservation.
The award honors exemplary leadership and other major contributions to conservation that significantly benefit natural resources and wildlife in local, state and national communities.
Bruce Schultz