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WASHINGTON, DC – The USA Rice World Market Price (WMP) Subcommittee held its first meeting of 2026 here yesterday, convening to discuss supply and demand, export sales, field yield estimates, and 2026 planting projections.  

Subcommittee members suggested 2024 field yield projections were slightly high in some states, and that forecasted medium grain prices and exports would likely end the year higher than what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently projecting.  Representatives from each state also offered their first projections for 2026 planting acreage, anticipating double digit decreases in all states, with the exception of California.

Following the initial meeting, Subcommittee members and USA Rice staff then met with teams from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Economic Research Service (ERS), and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) departments. 

WMP Subcommittee Chair Keith Glover provided feedback from USA Rice regarding NASS and ERS statistics, and reviewed the areas where USA Rice members thought changes could be made, including field yields and stocks.

“Each February the World Market Price meeting provides the opportunity to wrap up the prior year’s figures and offer the first projections for the coming crop year,” said Glover.  “As always, we are happy to hold these mutually beneficial discussions with our USDA counterparts to help compile a complete and accurate picture of the current state of the industry, especially at such a tough economic time where we are anticipating significant downward shifts in planted acreage and exports.”

To finish off the day, the Subcommittee received market updates from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and provided feedback to USDA on markets of greatest concern. 

The Subcommittee will next meet in-person in May in Washington, DC.

Source : usarice