News Release Distributed 01/27/12

CROWLEY, La. – Dr. Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, told rice farmers recently he is working on a plan to address the problem of saltwater entering irrigation ditches.

Strain told the joint meeting of the Louisiana Rice Council and the Louisiana Rice Growers Association on Jan. 25 at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station that he will be meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get federal help with surface water management.

“We need a better system where all the locks work together,” he said.

He said a coastal barrier against Gulf of Mexico saltwater no longer exists.

Strain said he also is concerned that the Sabine River Authority is proposing to sell water to Texas that would reduce the flow in the Sabine River by 10 percent.

“That water belongs to everybody,” he said.

Strain said the LSU AgCenter is being forced to cut research and extension programs, which ultimately hurts the agricultural economy in the state. “We need to find a permanent funding solution for the AgCenter.”

He also said he is planning a trip to China to help sell American rice.

Betsy Ward, president of the USA Rice Federation, told the gathering that formal complaints will be made in response to unfair trade practices by Thailand and Brazil for increasing their rice subsidies.

She said rice exports to Mexico, the No. 1 buyer of American rice, were at a record high last year.

Reece Langley, USA Rice vice president for governmental affairs, said a meeting will be held in Chicago that will address the wide range between futures rice prices on the Chicago Board of Trade and the cash prices that farmers receive when they sell their crop.