The CEO Connection: Summer 2026

The long hot days of summer are here, and our membership is putting in the long hours to take care of their crops and operations no matter the temperatures. Please make sure you stay hydrated and take a break in the AC when you can. Your cooperative has not taken the summer off. We are actively shipping, milling, crushing, and refining your commodities and getting ready for a new crop harvest that will be here earlier than a typical year.

Your cooperative has been in the news a lot lately as we make operational changes in response to the smallest rice crop since the 1970’s. These changes will have negative impacts on some members. Some will have to drive further to deliver their rice and soybeans, which means some will have to upgrade their truck and trailer options. That is why these are the hardest decisions management makes. But these hard decisions are to ensure your strong cooperative stays strong well into the future.

The cooperative is not immune to basic business principles. When revenue goes down, expenses must go down. Every member reading this has experienced it firsthand on your farming operations. This historically small crop means it will be the lowest revenue for the Drier Division in decades. As hard as the decision was to temporarily close locations, hopefully, what you see is a management team that is actively managing your cooperative. Expense-cutting measures are also being implemented in rice milling, general, and administration areas. It is an across-the-cooperative approach to lower all expenses to prepare for this historically small crop. Sticking our heads in the levee dirt and hoping it gets better is not a strategy for success; action is required.      

It’s August, which means your congressmen and senators will be running all around the state shaking hands and slapping backs. Make sure you thank them for the ad hoc assistance they have been supporting for farmers but also make sure they understand the rice industry needs protection from over-subsidized rice imports (India, Thailand) and trading partners not holding up their end of the deal (Dominican Republic). Keeping farmers producing rice is, of course, the priority, but to get the price you need, there must be a market for it.

Recently, rice and soybean futures have finally made a move to the upside. Unfortunately, it is too late in the marketing year to impact last year’s crop, but it should move the new crop to higher levels.  

Be safe out there!