LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A group of Chinese inspectors and importers will visit rice farms in Arkansas and two other states next month, the latest effort by American industry officials to persuade China to open its borders for U.S. rice.
Arkansas produces the most rice of any U.S. state, and the industry sees China as a potential game-changer, with more than 1.3 billion people who have a strong cultural affinity for rice. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of rice, and officials say they believe several varieties of pre-packaged American rice could be sold in Chinese grocery stores at a premium.
If China's market was opened, the resulting spike in demand could drive up prices and profits for Arkansas rice farmers.
"China could eat our whole rice crop and everything we grow in the country in 17 days," said Greg Yielding, executive director for the Arkansas Rice Growers Association.
Yielding hopes the September visit by officials from two Chinese inspection agencies will persuade China to accept American guarantees about its crop's safety. China has placed barriers to U.S. rice because the country wants to guarantee that there are no bugs or pests in the crop, he said.
"We feel like we're real close," Yielding said. "We feel like this could be the last leg on the journey."
Officials are expected to tour the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, rice mills in Stuttgart and Jonesboro, and area rice farms. The inspectors will also visit rice production sites in northern California and Louisiana.

The trip runs from Sept. 18 through Sept. 27 and was organized by the U.S. Rice Producers Association with a federal grant. The two agencies expected to send inspectors are the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine.

It's unclear whether China will lift trade barriers in the near future. But the trip could be part of a slow move toward doing so, said Milo Hamilton, president and co-founder of Firstgrain, a rice industry news service.

China has shown signs that it might start to import more rice, Hamilton said. Over the last year, it has started to import so-called "low quality" rice from several Asian countries. Recently, it also received a shipment of high quality rice from Uruguay, a sign that the country might be increasing its footprint in the Western Hemisphere, Hamilton said.

"They're very methodical about how they go about originating stuff," Hamilton said. "They can take many years to do something."

Industry officials say the differences between rice could distinguish American rice in a foreign market.

"You think of rice as just rice, but I'm always surprised by how sophisticated rice palettes are," said Andy Hewes, a partner in East Bernard Rice Marketing in Texas. "Sometimes, even the slightest variations can put people off."
Hewes and others said there are still several unknowns about the Chinese market for rice.

"Since it's not an open market, I don't think anyone has a radar on it in a big way," Hewes said. "We'd love to get in there and ship some high-quality rice, and I suspect with a billion-plus people, there's a market for it."

Yielding and Hamilton said they believed higher quality American rice could sell at a premium in China.

"We're looking for the best we can produce and we can sell it and get a premium price. They're looking for quality over price. We're going for the high-end market," Yielding said.