Riceland’s Ben Noble testifies on Farm Bill need

The U.S. Congress has not passed a new Farm Bill since 2018 and even that bill uses commodity price points from 2012. Commodity prices have collapsed during the last year and input costs have surged for many farmers.

Many stakeholders within the industry expect the federal government to take action to save a teetering farm economy.

Speaking to these challenges, Riceland Foods Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Noble testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Tuesday (March 11). U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., chairs the committee.

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 emphasized 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,” said Noble. “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.”

Boozman said he has had conversations with several lenders in the state. Farmers could have trouble securing financing for up to 20% of cropland in the state this year, he added.

“Unfortunately, tough times are nothing new for our nation’s farmers. They have endured many challenges before, but we have entered a scenario in which many economic indicators of health for the agriculture sector, especially for row crops, are headed in the wrong direction and have been for some time now,” said Boozman.

Since 1921, the business model for Riceland Foods, a farmer-owned cooperative, has been to provide marketing options for its members’ rice and soybeans, process the grain, and then sell and distribute the finished goods through domestic and international channels, Noble said.

As the largest miller and marketer of rice in the U.S. and the largest marketer of soybeans in the Mid-South, the cooperative’s membership consists of 5,500 U.S. members, with the highest concentration of farmer-members 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.

“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.”

A timetable for passing a new Farm Bill has not been released. The current bill has been extended until September of this year. Congress extended and added an extra $10 billion in financial assistance to aid farmers this year.