Restaurants love rice: versatile, inexpensive, and with a long shelf life, it is a wonderful canvas for chefs. Foodservice guru Kevin Gross and Chef Carl Schwartz join Michael and Lesley to talk about working with chefs to promote commodities like rice through recipe development, the new Rice to the Rescue program, and more. And Cameron Jacobs is back to talk rice and restaurants, and they all share stories of their time in foodservice – from pizza and hauling boxes to bussing tables for the mob and more.

Hosted by:

Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

The rice industry has one of the most impressive environmental stories to tell of any commodity. Not content to rest on its laurels, the industry created new sustainability goals to be achieved by 2030 and make the U.S. rice story that much more extraordinary. One of the scientists who helped establish those goals and existing benchmarks, Dr. Dustin Harrell, joins Steve and Lydia from his office at the LSU AgCenter to unpack it all. That plus Michael and Lesley share their personal 2021 goals.

Hosted by:

Dr. Steve Linscombe, Lydia Holmes, Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

A common misperception amongst Americans is that we import most of our rice from Asia. In fact, we grow more than 80% of the rice we eat and actually export rice TO Asia. USA Rice vice president of international Sarah Moran and director of Asia promotions Jim Guinn join the podcast to explain how they succeed in selling U.S. rice to Asia – a demonstrably discerning rice market. Michael and Lesley also discuss local food pride and share culinary missteps and overreaches that simply cannot be forgiven.

Hosted by:

Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

Rice in the United States is GMO-free and yet there are thousands of varieties and dozens of traits growers and millers want to capitalize on or avoid. How is it done? Science, of course! Join two of the most preeminent rice breeders in the world as they talk shop and give civilians a peek behind the scientific curtain. Our own Dr. Steve Linscombe, who spent three decades as a rice breeder at the LSU AgCenter, welcomes Dr. Adam Famoso, the current LSU rice breeder, to the podcast.

Hosted by:

Dr. Steve Linscombe, Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

In this episode we'll meet Molly Ellis, a high school senior from McKinney, Texas who beat out 106 other students to win the Grand Prize in the 2020 National Rice Month Scholarship contest with her video about how rice impacted the town of Katy, Texas; spend time with contest sponsor Chris Crutchfield of ACC Rice; and sit down with the 2020 USA Rice Sustainability Award Winner Dr. Michele Reba of USDA-ARS to hear about her ground-breaking research into water use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.

Hosted by:

Michael Klein, Lesley Dixon and Lydia Holmes

In a special episode, Rice Farming Magazine Editor Vicky Boyd joins the podcast to help recognize the 2020 Rice Award winners. Meet the Rice Farmer of the Year from California where he's brought in more than 50 crops; the Rice Industry Award winner joins us from Louisiana where he is advocating for rice on the local and national level, and the Lifetime Achievement Award honoree joins us from Texas to reflect on a life spent working in rice. Dr. Tim Walker of award cosponsor Horizon Ag joins us as well.

Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

Every year, farmers put their net worth in the ground, believing they will have a crop to harvest at the end of the season. They can improve their odds with good crop protection practices. Host Steve Linscombe is joined by Arkansas rice farmer Sidney Robnett, LSU weed scientist Dr. Eric Webster, and Texas A&M etymologist Dr. Mo Way to unpack the complex and vital crop protection game. Michael and Lesley also talked with California rice farmer Matthew Sligar about his new children's book, Daddy's Got Dirt.

Hosted by:

Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

Rice is the most widely manipulated commodity around the world and U.S. rice is export dependent. It's the job of Peter Bachmann of USA Rice to secure access to markets for the U.S. industry and take trade cheats to task. Peter talks China, Mexico, Vietnam, India, Nigeria, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, WTO, and more in this deep dive into Rice Trade Policy. Michael and Lesley also talk about biased sport referees, set the record straight on Ramadan and English food, and get their first fan call! Hosted by: Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

USA Rice's Eszter Somogyi joins the show today all the way from Hamburg, Germany to talk about the U.S. rice promotions she oversees from Accra to Zarqa and spots in between. She'll cover the varied customs of her customers, their rice preferences, and the one thing that unites them all whether they are in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, or someplace else. Michael and Lesley also talk about past travels and the names for U.S. products in other countries that might have Americans scratching their heads.

Hosted by:

Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon

Achieving sustainability goals is a group effort. The U.S. rice industry is fortunate to have a lot of great partners helping make their collective vision a reality. Representatives from Riceland Foods, Anheuser-Busch, and Indigo Ag join the podcast today to talk with Lydia about how they are working with rice industry leaders to make the world a better place. Join Adam Shea, Bill Jones, and Cody Corbell as they explain their companies' contributions to these important efforts.

Hosted by:

Lydia Holmes