AB Decision Could Hurt Bootheel Rice Growers

Missouri’s rice-growers are taking a blow from Anheuser-Busch, which says it will not buy Missouri-grown rice if a California biotech company is allowed to plant some genetically modified rice in the Bootheel. That’s Missouri’s rice-growing region. Anheuser-Busch says the genetically-modified rice could contaminate edible rice. Anheuser-Busch is the largest domestic purchaser of rice grown in this country. The California company wanting to put in an experimental crop accuses Anheuser Busch of bowing to consumer fears instead of listening to good science. But Anheuser-Busch has some allies – the USA Rice Federation, the US Rice Producers Association, and Riceland Foods, the world’s biggest rice miller and marketer.