2022 USA Rice Outlook Awards

2022 Rice Outlook Awards

The annual Rice Awards were presented again on Dec. 8 in Austin, Texas.

Paul O. Johnson, a long-time grower out of Welsh, Louisiana, was presented the Rice Farmer of the Year Award. Dr. Yeshi Wamishe, based in Stuttgart, Arkansas, was chosen as the Rice Industry Award winner. The Rice Lifetime Achievement Award winner, also out of Stuttgart, Arkansas, was Dr. Karen Moldenhauer.

Paul O. Johnson (far left), Dr. Karen Moldenhauer, and Dr. Yeshi Wamishe receive 2022 Rice Awards from Dr. Tim Walker (far right), general manager of Horizon Ag. These awards are presented by Horizon Ag, Rice Farming magazine and USA Rice annually at the Rice Outlook Conference. The National Rice Month Scholarship grand prize winner was Cole Skelley, a Bryant, Arkansas, native.

The new Rice Leadership Class was announced in Austin, Texas, in conjunction with the 2022 Rice Outlook Conference. The new leadership class is composed of (from left to right): Justin Chlapecka, Missouri; Jarod Holzhauer, Gillett, Arkansas; P.J. Haynie, Pine Blu , Arkansas; Charles Payne, Lafayette, Louisiana; Alex Struckmeyer, Arbuckle, California; Matthew Hendricks, Freeport, Texas; and (not pictured) Christi Bland, Sledge, Mississippi.

Kennedy Rice was the recipient of the 2022 USA Rice Sustainability Award. Mark Isbell (right), vice chair of the USA Rice Sustainability Committee, presented the award to Kennedy Rice CEO Meryl Kennedy Farr (left). The 2022 Distinguished Conservation Achievement Award was presented by the USA Rice Conservation Committee Chair Leo LaGrande to Isbell Farms of Lonoke, Arkansas. Chris Isbell (left) accepted the award on behalf of the family.