Supreme Rice's Climate-Smart Initiative

Climate-Smart Initiative to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Use Through the Adoption of Alternate Wetting and Drying Irrigation Practices in Rice Production

This project will expand climate-smart markets and provide financial incentives for underserved and small-scale rice producers to reduce methane emissions through alternate wetting and drying irrigation and adopt other sustainable growing practices to reduce emissions and water consumption. Project plans to offer financial incentives for changing management practices and reducing perceived risk barriers.

A multi-faceted campaign is planned to educate consumers and recognized participating producers. Pre-established baselines are planned to be used to quantify methane emissions in rice by peer-reviewed research.

Automated water level measuring devices, Crop Links, are planned to be deployed at a rate of 1 per every 100 acres.The project plans to design a campaign to educate consumers and bring recognition to the farmers and climate-smart commodities in the project. This campaign would be multi-faceted in nature, through the use of focused storytelling, TV Ads, Radio, YouTube Videos, Facebook Ads, Cooking shows, and Billboard Ads.

Supreme plans to ensure that growers who fit the “underserved and small grower” category are informed and have every opportunity to participate in the program. The project expects to enroll 769 growers and 166,415 program acres attributed to underserved rice growers.

Submit the following via email to climatesmart@supremerice.com:

• Most recent 2 years’ FSA 578 Producer Prints detailing crop type by field

• Current calendar year’s FSA maps detailing acres by Farm, Tract, and Field

• Producer contact information (see attached form)

• Intended acres to enroll in 2024 crop year (see attached form)

Once required documents are received and approved, applicant will be emailed login credentials for the grower portal to continue on to the next steps in the application process.