USA Rice Podcast Covers The Rice Industry

ARLINGTON, VA.

   It’s estimated that there are more than 2 million podcasts with more than 48 million episodes in existence today. Face it, no matter what your interests are, there’s a podcast out there for you. And if rice is your business, The Rice Stuff, the podcast from USA Rice, is worth checking out.

   “The rice industry is quite unique so we saw this podcast as an opportunity to take a deep dive into important issues affecting us,” said Michael Klein, vice president of communications and domestic promotion for USA Rice and show co-host. “We do shows on agronomy – like #17 Water Use Efficiency, #25 Soil Health, #23 Row Rice, #5 Biodiversity and others, and we’re fortunate to have Dr. Steve Linscombe as a co-host and resident expert.”

   The other co-host is USA Rice’s Lesley Dixon who said some of the most popular episodes are post-farm topics.

   “The show we did on changes to tax policy (#27) was very popular, as were the episodes on trade policy challenges (#9 and #21), and how the pandemic impacted rice promotion programs here (#6 and #16) and around the world (#3, #8, #14, and #26),” said Dixon. “We’ve also covered rice research and breeding, and been joined by the Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture, Wes Ward, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry for Louisiana, Dr. Mike Strain.”

   Klein said interviewing award winners, like the Rice Farmer of the Year, or the recipient of the USA Rice Sustainability Award, or the National Rice Month Scholarship are all special, but one episode in particular stands out in his mind.

   “We know there’s a very serious mental health crisis in the world today, and rural communities and farmers in particular are feeling it especially,” he said. “We’ve brought mental health speakers to events, like the 2019 USA Rice Outlook Conference, but episode 20 of the podcast was all about mental health challenges and resources for rural communities. Lesley and I are extremely proud of that episode that dealt with a tough topic directly and I hope made a difference.”

   New episodes of The Rice Stuff come out on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify. The entire back catalog of episodes can be found there and on the website, www.ricestuffpodcast.com. ∆