Rice Farmers Visit Senate to Blast SB 349 Assessment Increase
02/19/09 05:28 PM Filed in: Legislative
| SB 349
Assessment
LITTLE
ROCK, AR — Nearly 100 rice farmers visited Arkansas
Senate offices Tuesday, Feb. 17, to protest a
proposal to double the rice assessment. The farmers
came from all over the state’s rice growing areas to
express strong opposition to SB 349, a recent
legislative proposal to increase producers’
assessments on rice from 1.35 cents to 2.7 cents per
bushel while eliminating the buyer assessment.
The farmers also objected to allocating rice promotion and market development funds from the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board and the Arkansas Rice Council to a Texas-based trade association.
The bill, SB 349, proposed on Feb. 11, “undermines the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board and the Arkansas Rice Council — both of which have a long, successful track record of stewardship and management of our state promotion dollars,” said Stuttgart rice grower Jerry Hoskyn, chairman of the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board. “Arkansas rice farmers know best how to manage their state’s research and promotion funds, which are used to successfully expand markets for Arkansas rice at home and abroad,” Hoskyn said.
“Arkansas produces over half the nation’s rice and currently Arkansas rice farmers hold 20 of the 33 producer seats on the USA Rice Council Board,” said Jonesboro rice farmer Michael Cureton. “Why would we want to jump into another pond where we’d be the small fish?”
Marked Tree rice merchant Brian King said, “Rice producers should not be burdened with the cost of market development and promotion.”
The rice farming group spoke with nearly every member of the Senate during yesterday’s visit to the capitol.
The Arkansas Rice Council has a board of directors composed of 30 elected farmers, Cureton said. “We operate with full transparency and accountability. If the few pushing this bill think they can do a better job, then they should seek positions on the Council instead of trying to engineer a special and costly earmark for themselves,” he said.
Contact: Ben Noble, Benjamin.Noble@troutmansanders.com, (501) 372-4122
The farmers also objected to allocating rice promotion and market development funds from the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board and the Arkansas Rice Council to a Texas-based trade association.
The bill, SB 349, proposed on Feb. 11, “undermines the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board and the Arkansas Rice Council — both of which have a long, successful track record of stewardship and management of our state promotion dollars,” said Stuttgart rice grower Jerry Hoskyn, chairman of the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board. “Arkansas rice farmers know best how to manage their state’s research and promotion funds, which are used to successfully expand markets for Arkansas rice at home and abroad,” Hoskyn said.
“Arkansas produces over half the nation’s rice and currently Arkansas rice farmers hold 20 of the 33 producer seats on the USA Rice Council Board,” said Jonesboro rice farmer Michael Cureton. “Why would we want to jump into another pond where we’d be the small fish?”
Marked Tree rice merchant Brian King said, “Rice producers should not be burdened with the cost of market development and promotion.”
The rice farming group spoke with nearly every member of the Senate during yesterday’s visit to the capitol.
The Arkansas Rice Council has a board of directors composed of 30 elected farmers, Cureton said. “We operate with full transparency and accountability. If the few pushing this bill think they can do a better job, then they should seek positions on the Council instead of trying to engineer a special and costly earmark for themselves,” he said.
Contact: Ben Noble, Benjamin.Noble@troutmansanders.com, (501) 372-4122
