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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1982)
features MSC Battalion/Page 3B March 25, 1982 Many companies buy from Riceland Rice big business in Arkansas silos. \JlfJh 'LtV United Press International STUTTGART, Ark. — [Across the shimmering Arkan sas delta, a cluster of tall build ings springs from the horizon like the City of Oz, its blue out line easily mistaken for the sky- |ine of a great city. But travelers are not fooled tor long. Nearly every tiny town In these bottomlands has its sky line of grain elevators, dominat ing the frame houses and service Stations scattered beneath them. Equally familiar in eastern lArkansas are the huge letters painted along the row of grain s, spelling Out R-I-C-E-L-A- -D. Arkansas grows about 30 per mit of the nation’s rice and liceland is the world’s largest lice and soybean cooperative. The mountains of rice mured into these silos will even- resurface in Rit e Krispies i Canadian breakfast tables, in ludweiser beer bubbling into tans at St. Louis, in bags of“Per- lecto” rice on Puerto Rican groc ery shelves, in Japanese dinner bowls and in Nigerian food lines. ‘‘About two-thirds of all the Hce we receive ends up being told overseas,” said Richard Bell, executive vice president of Ticeland. “Our most important [narket is western Europe. We robably supply 40 percent of he American long-grain rice inallv that’s bought and used in west ern Europe.” Bell joined Riceland in 1977 after a long career with the U.S. Agriculture Department and is credited with helping the cooperative develop its export system. New markets, he said, are the best hedge against the current oversupply that is de pressing rice prices. “We have a group of agents that are scattered throughout the world that represent us,” Bell said in an interview. Three other men are based in Stuttgart but travel the world seeking new markets for the Riceland grain. Riceland sells half the rice grown in Arkansas and about one-third of the soybean crop — a total of 1 13 million bushels in 1981. The single largest customer is Anheuser-Busch, which uses rice to brew its beer. The com pany has strict quality specifica tions but does not mind using broken kernels that Riceland cannot package and sell, Bell said. Kellogg’s, another American customer, uses medium-grain Riceland rice for its Rice Kris pies, and General Foods uses Riceland rice for Minute Rice. The l ice is grown in flooded fields throughout the Arkansas delta, harvested and hauled to 41 various driers, then tran- ported to one of six mills at Stuttgart or Jonesboro, Ark. Soybeans are processed at plants in Stuttgart and Helena, Ark. Milling rice is fairly simple. After cleaning, hulls are re moved by passing the kernels through rollers, yielding brown rice. It is shipped overseas in that form and milled later. For rice staying in this coun try, the hulled rice is milled again to remove the outer layers of bran and germ. Then it is polished. Riceland parboils some of the rice, which gelatinizes the starch in the kernel and helps keep it from breaking. The process also prevents germination and kills mold or spores to extend shelf- life, and it keeps the rice from sticking together when it cooks. Parboiled rice can be pack aged for sale and has also been used in the government’s Food for Peace program. “Markets are constantly changing,” Bell said. “Four or five years ago our major market for rice other than western Europe was Iran. When Mr. Khomeini came in, we lost the market overnight. So when we went out to find a deal to replace it, it wasn’t long before Iraq re placed Iran as being the No. 1 market for this class of rice. Then Iran and Iraq got in a war and we lost them both. That’s when we started using the Un ited Arab Emirates.” The Riceland rice still ends up in Iran and Iraq, “but no one will admit it,” he said. Soybeans are sold closer to home. Much of Riceland’s soy bean meal is used for poultry and livestock feed in Arkansas and surrounding states. Soy flour, soy protein and soy oil also have myriad uses in the food industry. Soybean lecithin can even be used in paint and cosmetics. F.ven Riceland’s byproducts can be sold. Rice hulls, for exam ple, are used in livestock feed and to crush cranberries and ap ples for fruit juice. The Japanese use rice hulls in pillows because air can circulate through them. Riceland was organized as the Arkansas Rice Growers Cooper ative Association in 1921. Many Arkansas farmers had turned to rice when boll weevils decimated their cotton crops at the turn of the century. Riceland turned to soybeans when 1955 rice acreage controls left some of its rice growers with unused land. Overseas, the value of the dol lar has dampened demand for American rice. Business cited by NRC United Press International KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — The Nuclear Regulatory Com mission staff has cited a division of Nuclear Energy Services Inc. of Houston for five alleged violations at its Folcroft, Pa., office. T he NRC staff Tuesday said the most serious allegation ac cused Conam of allowing “an employee to conduct radiogra phy without training in required subjects and without demonstra tion of his understanding of this subject.” The office also allegedly failed to watch radiographic operations “which resulted in a member of the public entering a high radiation area,” the staff said. The NRC staff proposed a $9,000 fine for the firm. The alleged violations were deter mined after inspections between July and October. Bealls Armadillo Knit Shirts On Sale 9.88 to 14.88 Our own bit of Texas knit is on sale. You can choose from either boys or mens styles. Or for the Junior. You can have the comfort of a polyester/ cotton blend for your active wear. It comes in many shades. One for every fun loving mood. All are machine washable. Boys reg. s 14.00 SALE s 9.88 Juniors reg. s 16.00 SALE s 12.88 Mens reg. 47.00 to s 20.00 SALE s 14.88 MANOR EAST MALL Open Monday thru Saturday 10 A M. to 9 P M. POST OAK MALL TRAVEL IS — A TRIP TO *1* china! ^Summer of 1982 r.> cmm A~~r> ration in China *1/, $ , - ♦Visifing Shanghai, Nanking, Hang- zhou, Zuzhou, & Beijing y-1 j <0 ♦Sixteen days total fend of Mayo +41,990 including round trip airfare^ from Wesi Coasi to China > ♦Sign-up begins today in MSC 216, $500 deposit & for more info please call 845-1514 or stop by MSC 216 Special Package Deal on All Yairi, Alvarez, and Yamaha Guitars! Big Savings! / Anniversary and other special models arriving weekly Guitar Lessons! Enroll Now! See Us At The Post Oak Mall KEyboARd Center Inc. POST OAK MALL College Station, TX 77840 Layaway Piano Rental Piano Tuning SSffiSE Acycfie. 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