Riceland Foods COO Signals "A Way of Life is at Risk" During U.S. Senate Ag Committee Testimony

STUTTGART, Ark., March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Riceland Foods Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Noble testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry today. The full committee, led by Chairman John Boozman (R-AR), heard perspectives from the field regarding risk management, credit and rural business views on the current agricultural economy.

Low commodity prices, high input costs, and lack of profitability over a multi-year period are the leading causes of distress from rice farmers in the mid-South. Noble stressed to the committee the need for serious and substantial action to be taken to update reference prices to secure a strong safety net for rice farmers.

"Kicking the can down the road on the farm bill reauthorization has gone on too long," Noble said. "While temporary, ad hoc assistance has been appreciated by farmers and the broader agricultural sector, it is just that – temporary – and in no way should it be considered a substitute for the longer-term certainty a good and meaningful farm bill can provide."

Since 1921, Riceland Foods, a farmer-owned cooperative, our business model has been to provide marketing options for our members' rice and soybeans, process the grain, and then sell and distribute the finished goods through domestic and international channels. As the largest miller and marketer of rice in the United States and the largest marketer of soybeans in the Mid-South, our cooperative's membership consists of 5,500 members across the U.S., and our farmer-members are concentrated in Arkansas and Missouri.

The cooperative's four milling and 24 drying and receiving locations are located in small rural communities like Stuttgart, Hazen, Poplar Bluff, New Madrid, Wheatley, and many more across Arkansas and Missouri. Riceland Foods is the largest employer and main driver of those communities' local economies. 

"When our farmers suffer, we suffer. Ultimately, this impacts the entire region. It's not overstating to say that if Riceland Foods doesn't operate in many of these small towns, the towns no longer exist," Noble said during his testimony. "Without the overdue action of Congress by way of a new farm bill, a way of life is at risk – for the farmer, employees at companies like mine, and not only rural Americans but all Americans who have long enjoyed one of the lowest percentages of income spent on food in the world."

To review Noble's full testimony, please visit this link: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/hearings/perspectives-from-the-field-risk-management-credit-and-rural-business-views-on-the-agricultural-economy-part-3 

About Riceland Foods, Inc

Riceland Foods and its family farmers have provided the world with wholesome, nutritious rice since 1921. Grown in the United States, our rice is known for its high quality and versatility, and that's why Riceland has become a trusted brand around the globe. Riceland is a cooperative, which means we are owned by our 5,500 family farmer members, who are also our stockholders and growers. For more information, visit www.riceland.com.

SOURCE Riceland Foods, Inc.