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The 2026 Arkansas Rice Processing Program’s Industry Alliance Meeting will be held May 19 in Fayetteville, Ark. It will be followed by a two-day course on rice quality and evaluation.

The latest advancements in rice research, economics and technology will be the focus of the 2026 Arkansas Rice Processing Program’s Industry Alliance Meeting on May 19 at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville, Ark. 

The Rice Processing Program is a part of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. It was created in 1994 to address postharvest quality issues and research needs in the U.S. rice industry with the goal of enhancing the quality and value of rice and rice products.

Consistently ranked as the top rice-producing state in the U.S., Arkansas has become a hub of research to adapt to the evolving demands of rice production, said Griffiths Atungulu, professor and agricultural engineer in the department of food science for the Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Atungulu is the director of the Arkansas Rice Processing Program.

The Industry Alliance Meeting brings together industry leaders, researchers and stakeholders. Registration is due on May 16. The event is open to the public, but there is a registration fee of $800 for individuals from nonsponsor companies. The meeting will be recorded but not presented online on May 19. The meeting content is freely available to employees of sponsor companies.

The Rice Quality and Evaluation short course, a two-day event co-hosted by the Division of Agriculture and the Rice Processing Program, will be held in person and online May 20-21 at the Food Science Building in Fayetteville, in conjunction with the Cereals & Grains Association.

Industry Alliance Meeting schedule

The meeting will feature John Morgan, vice president of Supreme Rice, as the keynote speaker. Keith Glover, president and CEO of Producers Rice Mill, will offer a rice industry outlook with perspectives on trends of rice milling yield and quality.

Research on rice breeding and genetics, drying, milling and storage, as well as end-use quality and functionality, will be presented by scientists and engineers with the Division of Agriculture, USDA, rice industry companies and the School of Engineering and Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Included in the lineup is the increasingly popular luncheon keynote, “Arkansas Rice Production Update,” by Jarrod Hardke, professor and rice Extension agronomist with the Division of Agriculture.

The May meeting will also feature a new segment, initiated by Atungulu, titled “Growing Growers’ Voices.”

Kaushik Luthra, Extension engineer and assistant professor of postharvest grain processing in the department of biological and agricultural engineering, will provide an overview of how his lab group is developing strategic partnerships with rice growers. Luthra is based at the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center in Harrisburg, Ark. This effort is part of the Rice Processing Program’s outreach segment and aims to maximize research and Extension output to the rice industry.

The full schedule can be found online at the event website. Registration includes lunch, snacks and a social barbecue dinner on May 19. A non-meat option can be offered at each meal by contacting riceprog@uark.edu for dietary restriction requests.

Links to nearby hotels are also available at the event website. The deadline to reserve with a group rate for the Inn at Carnall Hall and Hyatt Place is April 18.

Rice Quality and Evaluation short course

Using a mix of lectures and lab demonstrations, the Rice Quality and Evaluation short course will provide information and hands-on experience about rice physiology, quality, milling, functionality and sensory evaluation. The structure and composition of a rice kernel and the physicochemical properties of kernel constituents will also be discussed.

In-person registration includes two full days of training and lectures, access to all course materials, light snack breaks, lunch and a certificate of completion.

The course will be held in the Food Science Building. Along with Atungulu, the event will feature presentations by Han-Seok Seo, a professor of sensory science and director of the experiment station’s Sensory Science Center; Julie Thomas, a research scientist and plant molecular geneticist; Mahfuzur Rahman, an assistant professor in the department of food science; and Rusty Bautista, a grain quality scientist and seed technology lead at RiceTec, Inc.

Registration is available online for both in-person and virtual programs. The in-person registration fee is $795 for Cereals & Grains Association members and $895 for nonmembers. Virtual registration costs $395 for association members and $495 for nonmembers.

Source : farmprogress