State’s delegates tout Iraq’s rice buy

Iraq is buying 30,000 metric tons of rice from the United States, and news of the sale was welcomed by members of the Arkansas congressional delegation.

“I told the Iraqi ambassador multiple times that his country would benefit from opening its market to Arkansas rice, and I’m pleased to see this deal finally come through. Arkansas rice is second to none, and I’m confident we’ll find many more customers in this promising new market,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton in a joint news release Thursday.

Arkansas’ U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford joined Cotton in touting the sale.

“I recently wrapped up my annual agriculture tour, and the message that was continually echoed was ‘protect the markets we have and work to open new ones.’ Given a level playing field, our agricultural producers can compete with anyone,” Boozman said.

“This new market creates more opportunity for our Arkansas farmers, and I appreciate the large effort put into making this deal happen,” Crawford said.

Crawford represents the state’s 1st Congressional District. Covering northeast Arkansas and all of the state’s counties bordering the Mississippi River, it produces more rice than any other congressional district in the country.

Boozman and Crawford have both introduced legislation to remove barriers to agriculture trade with Cuba, arguing that the state’s rice farmers should have greater access to that market.