Here are few noteworthy moments from Missouri agriculture you might have missed. A new rice breeder at Southeast Missouri State University, corn farmers serving in a national corn organization and Gov. Jay Nixon traveling to northwest Missouri to talk flooding — all are included in this edition of Missouri Minutes.

Southeast Missouri State has new rice breeder
Christian De Guzman has been named the new rice breeder with the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.

RICE RESEARCH: Southeast Missouri State University added a new rice breeder to the staff at its research farm in Glennonville. Christian De Guzman will not only work with the university, but will also lead rice research for the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.

A former graduate research assistant with the Department of Agronomy at Louisiana State University, where he received his doctorate, De Guzman started his new role in October and will be based at Southeast Missouri State University-Malden, 10 miles east of the Missouri Research Farm in Glennonville.

De Guzman will be responsible for conducting rice research that supports the Missouri rice industry, coordinating rice research activities involving other researchers with the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council, and managing the rice laboratory at the university's Malden campus. His work also will include grant writing and research reporting, and supervising staff.

At LSU, De Guzman has been responsible for generating long- and medium-grain experimental two-line hybrids for the LSU rice hybrid breeding program. He performed marker genotyping for grain-quality traits in rice, developed molecular markers for early heading and wide compatibility, and implemented disease screening and selection for sheath blight resistance.

He holds a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

Farmers serve in national corn leadership roles
Several Missouri Corn leaders have also been appointed to serve on National Corn Growers Association action teams and committees.

Kevin Hurst has been reappointed to the Corn PAC. Kyle Kirby will join the Feed, Food and Industrial Action Team. Morris Heitman of Mound City was named to the Freedom to Operate Action Team. Mike Moreland will serve on the Risk Management Action Team. Jay Schutte was renamed to the Ethanol Action Team. Greg Schneider was appointed to the Corn Productivity and Quality Action Team. Allen Rowland was named to the Consumer Engagement Action Team. Gary Porter will serve on the Market Access Action Team. Matt Amick, Missouri Corn director of grower services, will join the Engaging Members Committee. Shane Kinne, Missouri Corn director of public policy, will serve as a state staff member from the Freedom to Operate Action Team.

Nixon discusses farms, flooding
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon visited the farm of Lanny Frakes in Buchanan County, where he held a Safer, Stronger Missouri roundtable with area farmers, local elected officials and representatives of area levee and drainage districts. Participants discussed the ongoing efforts over the last several years that have helped protect area farms, homes and businesses from flooding.

“Government’s most important role is keeping people safe, no matter if the threat is a tornado, an ice storm or flooding, all of which and more we see here in Missouri,” Nixon said. “Northwest Missouri has seen more than its share of flooding over the last several years, especially in 2011. Since 2009, my administration has set out to make Missouri safer and stronger, and a big part of that is working with our local partners, including the levee districts that protect farms and communities.”

The roundtable was part of a series of Safer, Stronger Missouri events across the state in which the governor is receiving updates on the state’s expanded capabilities in emergency planning, and disaster response and recovery.

In 2011, Missouri communities experienced record flooding across the state, due to water releases from upper Missouri River reservoirs and a breach of the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri. Immediate actions were taken to assist these communities. More than $6 million was provided for community development block grants to assist several Missouri towns and counties in repairing or replacing roads, bridges, levees and other public infrastructure damaged or destroyed by floodwaters. That included $4 million for projects along the Missouri River from Atchison County to Carroll County.

Nixon also approved $5 million in general revenue from the state of Missouri for a levee flood-control project to help protect Rosecrans Memorial Airport and the Air National Guard base located there, as well as farms and homes in the area.