[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S9043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                  100TH ANNIVERSARY OF RICELAND FOODS

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I rise today to commemorate the 
100th anniversary of Riceland Foods.
  Riceland's success story mirrors the growth of rice production in 
Arkansas. The first rice crop grown in Arkansas was produced in 1904. 
As more Arkansas farmers embraced this new crop, they found that 
relying on buyers from Texas or Louisiana, who passed through Arkansas 
infrequently, made sales difficult. That led farmers to build Arkansas' 
first rice mill in Stuttgart in 1907.
  Stuttgart would soon become the center of Arkansas' burgeoning rice 
industry. In the years around World War I, rice crop prices fluctuated 
wildly, leading Arkansas producers to meet in Stuttgart to find a path 
to ensure continued viability. The Arkansas Rice Growers Cooperative 
Association was born out of this gathering.
  The cooperative began as only a rice sales organization. As rice 
farming became more popular in Arkansas, the Arkansas Rice Growers 
Cooperative Association began leasing and eventually purchasing mills 
to process rice grown by area farmers.
  In 1946, the cooperative began marketing its products under the 
Riceland label. In 1960, it diversified by merging with the Arkansas 
Grain Cooperative, which shared soybeans with neighboring soybean 
processing plant in Stuttgart. Shortly thereafter, Riceland Foods 
became the official name for the cooperative, which would remain 
headquartered in Stuttgart.
  Today, Arkansas is the Nation's leading rice producer, and Riceland 
has grown into the world's largest miller and marketer of rice, as well 
as one of the Mid-South's major soybean processors.
  Riceland has its own signature brands for home cooking and is also a 
major industrial supplier for companies such as Anheuser-Busch, General 
Mills, Gerber, and Kellogg's. They also supply to the food service 
industry nationwide.
  The rice the cooperative's farmers grow is turned into products that 
reach consumers in more than 75 countries in North America, Central 
America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and the Middle 
East.
  At a recent celebration to mark Riceland's 100th anniversary, 
chairman of the board Roger Pohlner spotlighted the cooperative's 
greatest assets: its members and employees. He told attendees, ``Our 
founding members knew we were stronger together.'' The cooperative's 
100 years of success is evidence of just how true that statement is.
  I congratulate Riceland for reaching this historic milestone and wish 
them many more centuries of success.

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