As farmers put the finishing touches to the 2015 rice harvest, yields reportedly are off 5 to 10 percent in many areas. That will make selling this year’s crop even more challenging, according to analysts.

That’s why the Oct. 6 Food and Agribusiness Webinar offered by the University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture could be very timely for farmers in Arkansas and other rice-growing states.

The next webinar in the University of Arkansas series, which will be titled “Global Rice and Commodity Markets Will Mover Higher…  Have we hit the bottom!,” will feature Jeremy Zwinger, president and CEO of Farm and Trade Inc. and The Rice Trader Inc., and a veteran rice market analyst.

Farmers can register for the webinar, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Central Time on Oct. 6, by clicking on https://uaex.zoom.us/webinar/register/99728e411b97c868c5b9141539e44ee6.

“We’ll be looking at the global rice and commodity markets and having a frank talk about the changing dynamics: price direction, politics, water, long grain vs. medium grain vs. others, quality challenges and other timely issues,” says Dr. Bobby Coats, professor of economics and agribusiness at the University of Arkansas and moderator of the webinar series.

“Jeremy has also just returned from a key trip from Asia, which adds to the timeliness of this talk.”

Zwinger is the president / CEO of The Rice Trader, Farm and Trade Inc., International Commodity Institute and other entities. He carries a long standing background in agriculture from growing up in a family farming operation in North Dakota. He went through undergraduate and graduate programs at North Dakota State University.

Zwinger’s experience extends globally in the fields of brokerage, advisement, and consultancy services to a number of internationally respected businesses, including several fortune 500 companies. He is well known amongst clients for his direct advisory work and market analysis that has over the years proven to be accurate estimates of forthcoming market developments.

In recent years, his interests have expanded to water trading, grower finance, international trade and effecting branding.

He has chaired the World Rice Conference since its inception in 2009, being a regular participant at the World Rice Commerce series and has over the years contributed to some extensive analysis of rice markets by adding inter-commodity analysis (wheat, corn, soybeans, sugar, coffee, etc.) as well as how currency and oil prices impact the rice market.

His skills were honed during his early career as an analyst for The Rice Trader. With his 2007 speech predicting prices to go past USD $1,000-per-ton levels, Zwinger’s analytical skills became well regarded. As always, he looks forward to contributing more insights about the future of the commodity market, hoping to make yet another accurate assessment of the future to aid the audience.

For more information on the Food and Agribusiness Webinar series, visit http://www.uaex.edu/farm-ranch/economics-marketing/food-agribusiness-webinars/.