#131 Promoting U.S. Jasmine Rice

USA Rice's Cameron Jacobs joins Michael Klein to talk about last year's U.S. jasmine rice promotion campaign. They discuss the reasoning behind the outreach, target development, creative creation, tactics, methodology, and results. Plus Cameron shares some breaking news and offers a peek at future promotions. And given the timing, they take a look back at the 2026 NCAA March Madness campaign, that for Michael was much less successful than the jasmine campaign. With special guest: Cameron Jacobs, VP Domestic Promotion & March Madness Pool Commissioner, USA Rice   Hosted by: Michael Klein

Michael went to Anaheim, California for one of the largest and most influential food shows in the country. He stalked the aisles finding new products and old friends, caught up with several USA Rice members who were there to rep U.S.-grown rice, and walked more than 45,000 steps for the pod. Listen in to learn about new rice uses, new companies, rice innovation, and more. www.batchfoods.co www.kevinsnaturalfoods.com www.dainty.ca www.dellarice.com www.nextgenfoods.com www.exceedientfoods.com www.lundberg.com www.chefbobo.com www.oliviascroutons.com www.raisedglutenfree.com  With special guests: Bryce Lundberg, VP of Agriculture, Lundberg Family Farms Brita Lundberg, Communications Manager, Lundberg Family Farms Meryl Kennedy, CEO, 4Sisters Rice Steve Choi, Director of R&D, Chef Bobo Brand Michael Bosworth, CEO, Next Generation Foods Rick Rhody, CEO, Expedient Foods and Farmers' Rice Cooperative Charley Mathews, Jr., Chair, Farmers' Rice Cooperative Aidan Anvaripour, Founder, Batch Foods Chiedu Okeke, Director of Procurement, Kevin's Natural Foods Eric Martindale, Founder, Elite Commerce Group Jeff Clarke, VP of Sales, Specialty Rice, Inc. James Maitland, CEO, Dainty Foods and Dainty Foods US Hosted by: Michael Klein

Steve Linscombe has assembled rice breeding experts to talk about U.S. grain quality and what they are doing to improve it. From fissuring and milling yields to farm gate value and consumer preferences, join us for this important discussion. With special guests: Dr. Maria Montiel, Rice Breeder, HorizonAg, Dr. Tim Walker, CEO, HorizonAg, and Dr. Adam Famoso, Professor, LSU AgCenter Hosted by: Steve Linscombe and Michael Klein

Michael Klein reports from a packed USA Rice Farm Policy Fly-In in D.C., where growers discussed rising input costs, trade pressures, emergency assistance, world rice stocks, planting intentions, and more. USA Rice members Paul T. Combs and Fred Zaunbrecher talked planting strategy and rice's reception on Capitol Hill. USDA senior leaders shared their thoughts on the ag economy, and then recently retired USDA ag economist Nathan Childs was honored and sat down to share his uncensored thoughts on applied economics, agriculture, the PIK years, market instability and how to counteract it, and learning from history. With special guests: Nathan Childs, USDA-ERS (Retired) Paul T. Combs, Sunrise Land Company Fred Zaunbrecher, Chair, USA Rice Farmers Board of Directors Richard Fordyce, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, USDA Stephen Vaden, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA Hosted by: Michael Klein

Join Steve Linscombe and the members of 2025 Rice Leadership Development Alumni Program's trip to South America as they share the insights they gained on this valuable trip. Louisiana's Christian Richard and Eric Unkel, Arkansas' Brad Doyle, and Missouri's David Martin, along with Tim Walker and Peter Bachmann talk about the focus on quality, technology, and collaboration among farmers in this important rice producing region. The trip, sponsored by American Commodity Company, John Deere, RiceTec, and Supreme Rice, offered valuable lessons for the entire U.S. rice industry.   With special guests: Peter Bachmann, President & CEO, USA Rice Brad Doyle David Martin Christian Richard Eric Unkel Tim Walker   Hosted by: Steve Linscombe and Michael Klein

The 2025 USA Rice Outlook Conference was a record-setting success. One widely-attended session on the FMC Stage was "Brewing and Beyond." Michael Klein was joined by food scientist Dr. Scott Lafontaine, Exceedient Foods' Derek Alarcon, and from J.T. Meleck Distillers Emily Meyers. From rice varieties and gel temps to flavor profiles and being a whiskey taster, the panel unpacked a lot of innovation. Learn more at: www.exceedientfoods.com  www.food-science.uark.edu  www.jtmeleck.com  @jtmeleck2.0   With special guests: Dr. Scott Lafontaine, University of Arkansas Center for Beverage Innovation and Derek Alarcon, Exceedient Foods, Farmers' Rice Cooperative, and Emily Meyers, J.T. Meleck Distillers   Hosted by: Michael Klein

Crafting a global marketing strategy for U.S.-grown rice is a heavy lift. Hosts Michael Klein and first-time co-host Cameron Jacobs dive into international marketing with Corey Hayes and Liz Deets, co-founders of Get Back Here Dog, the full service agency working with USA Rice. They discuss creating a global digital playbook everyone can draw from no matter the market and how authenticity, strategy and a love of rice fuel their creative approach. With special guests: Liz Deets, Co-founder, Get Back Here Dog and Corey Hayes, Co-founder, Get Back Here Dog Hosted by: Michael Klein and Cameron Jacobs

Michael Klein was back in Crowley, Louisiana for the 88th International Rice Festival and has returned with interviews with the Chef De Riz, the Rice Farmer of the Year, the 87th and 88th International Rice Festival Queens, and guest judges and USA Rice members Kirk and Bridget Satterfield and Jim and Lesli Whitaker. Deborah Willenborg sits in the cohost chair with recollections of past festivals. With special guests: Katherine Richard, 2025 Chef de Riz Eric Unkle, 2025 Rice Farmer of the Year Alana Abshire, 87th International Rice Festival Queen Ansley Dawson, 88th International Rice Festival Queen Kirk Satterfield, Mississippi Rice Farmer Bridget Satterfield Jim Whitaker, Arkansas Rice Farmer Lesli Whitaker   Hosted by: Michael Klein and Deborah Willenborg

USA Rice's Chain Engagement Program brings U.S.-grown rice concepts and information to restaurant operators of all sizes. It also brings culinary and marketing teams to farms and mills to make deeper connections. In October 2025, USA Rice brought a team from the Salad Collective, operators of Mad Greens, Snappy Salads, and Tokyo Joe's, to California during harvest. Their schedule was packed, touring Farmers' Rice Cooperative, Christine Wylie's seed operation, and Charley Mathews Jr's dryer and farm, as well as seeing wildlife and water management up close. Michael was on the tour and sat down with Cameron Jacobs to talk about the concepts as well as tour participants. With special guests: Chef Jeff DiSanto, Director of Culinary, Salad Collective, Dawn Whittenburg, Director of Marketing, Tokyo Joe's, and Cameron Jacobs, VP of Domestic Promotion, USA Rice Hosted by: Michael Klein and Deborah Willenborg

The 2025 National Association of State Departments of Agriculture held their annual meeting in Northwest Arkansas. The event brought ag commissioners and secretaries from all 50 states and several territories, as well as delegations from major trading partners, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins for several days of policy meetings, networking, and more. Michael caught up with Louisiana's Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain and Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture and event host Wes Ward for on the spot reports. With special guests: Dr. Mike Strain, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry and Wes Ward, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Hosted by: Micheal Klein