USA Rice Federation and California Rice Commission leaders and staff members met this week with members of the California congressional delegation and key Obama administration officials to discuss important trade and farm policy issues and to provide an update on California’s water issues.

The group met with Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Reps. Wally Herger, R-Calif., Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif. They also visited with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, including Undersecretary Jim Miller, Deputy Undersecretary Michael Scuse, and Farm Service Administrator Doug Caruso, to provide an overview of the California rice industry.

The delegation also met with Larry Elworth, the newly appointed agriculture counselor at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to introduce him to the California rice industry and some of the unique regulatory issues it faces.