Posted on 02/26/2012 7:55:56 AM PST by MBT ARJUN
DAYTON, Texas - The talk of the day among Ray Stoesser and other rice farmers is Iraq's decision not to buy U.S. rice, a stinging move that adds to a stressful year punctuated by everything from drought to unusual heat. Stoesser and other farmers know Iraqis struggled during the U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation. They know most countries , and people , buy based on price. But at the moment, with production costs rising, export markets shrinking and rice prices dropping, it's difficult to be rational and suppress emotions so intimately intertwined with their land and livelihood. "That's just not right," the 63-year-old Stoesser fumed. "If we've got some rice to sell, they ought to pay a premium for it just because this is the country that freed them." Iraq imports most of its rice, about 1 million metric tons per year, making it a significant player in the global market. In the past decade, about 10 percent to 15 percent of that total came from the United States. But Iraq hasn't bought any U.S. rice since late 2010. "You would think with all that we've done over there, there would be a way to get them to do business with us," said Ronald Gertson, who grows rice in Lissie, Texas. Iraq has been buying instead from Asia and South America, and it recently lowered its quality standards so it would be able to buy rice from India, something that was impossible under the Iraqi Grain Board's old rules, said Andy Aaronson, chairman of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rice Interagency Commodity Estimate Committee. It also recently bought rice from Uruguay, which grows a variety similar to the American one but sold for less.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
We are slowly learning that we are not at all compatible with these people. That includes religion and commerce. It is high time that we stop spending time and money on these people, and instead employ the “watch and wait” philosophy in maintaining control of them.
The market is free or it is not. If the Iraqi’s prefer one type of rice like the Japanese prefer another then the fuming farmer should grow what the consumer wants if he expects to sell to them.
Lol. Iraq would be purchasing rice with money that we gave them that we borrowed from China.
I’m a big supporter of independent farmers, but I would love to know where these people think the price of rice is falling? No such thing is happening in the grocery store. I realize prices are going to reflect the increased costs in production and transportation, but to claim the price is decreasing makes no sense to me.
Besides, look at the number of American consumers who buy Chinese instead of American products just because they're cheaper.
Exactly.. but that’s not even what the article is about. This guy expects them to pay a premium for all that “we” did. I wonder if this 63 year old farmer was going to give his profits away in the form of charity for soliders that actually went over there and did the work?
The Texas Basmati rice is quite good. We in the USA produce rice very competitively, and more efficiently than just about anyone else in the world.
I visited a Chinese grocery store here in NJ, and found a huge variety in rice, all in colorful bags with Chinese-language markings, and all marked in small letters, “Product of USA” (most from California and Texas).
There are new varieties of rice which are loaded with vitamins compared to the traditional forms. Try some!
Muslims just don’t care. Get it through your skulls now, or they’ll put it through there for you.
Well said. Its a free market, after all.
India can barely feed their billions. Rice can store for many years. Just wait. They are going to need it soon.
India, like most Asian countries keep rice and respond to it as a national security concern. A few years ago, India started a rice crisis. They made it illegal for most Indian rice to leave the country. In October 2007, they blocked exports of all non-Basmati rice. Thus turning a rice surplus into a rice crisis. Idiots.
Thanks to the green revolution, India has been a food exporter for some time. A lot of poeple in the food business expect that to change sometime in the next 10-20 years as rising incomes lead to an improved diet with more animal protein, but the process will be slower in India than China because so many people in India don’t eat meat. Dairy, however, is already growing very rapidly. Poultry will be next.
No good deed goes unpunished..........
You can't free someone who is imprisoned by a culture of their own making. All we've done is go over and stir the pot.
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"You would think with all that we've done over there, there would be a way to get them to do business with us,"
I'm ashamed to share the State with people who think 'doing good' must come with some kind of payback.
Why American rice farmers of all people should receive a windfall for the US investment in Iraq escapes me.
The same argument could be made for every US product—and thankfully we’ve still enough free market respect left in most of us that it isn’t.
And the Indian rice costs less. The U.S. exports a lot of food because it's available and priced right. If this strain of rice can't be grown here competitively, the angry farmers might look for another crop.
If anyone expects a thanks for everything/anything that we’ve done for the Iragi’s, they need to have their head examined. Just like everyone else in the ME they have no concept of what gratitude is. The iragi’s deserved good ol’ Saddam.
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The fewer entanglements with ME countries, the better.
I don't want to sell to them, don't want to buy from them. Don't want to defend them, don't want their help... DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM.
Ding, ding, ding - we have a thread winnah!
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