Economics plays a role in nearly every decision that rice producers make — from variety selection to growing methods to crop insurance enrollment.

To help growers succeed amid ever-changing market conditions, LSU AgCenter economist Michael Deliberto provides several farm management tools and other resources.

Rice enterprise budgets: These budgets consist of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with projected costs and returns for Louisiana rice production. They’re updated ahead of each crop year.

The spreadsheets allow users to generate budgets tailored to their operations. All they have to do is input their estimated costs and quantities for labor, fuel, fertilizer, irrigation and other expenses.

The budgets also can help producers weigh decisions related to land rental arrangements, Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) farm program payments, and crop insurance.

Farmers can download the budgets from the AgCenter website at no cost. Deliberto offers versions for conventional, Clearfield, hybrid and Provisia rice systems; water and drill planting; flooded and furrow-irrigated rice; and northeast and southwest Louisiana.

Economic analysis: In the past year, Deliberto has focused on evaluating proposed changes to the farm safety net and how these changes could impact Louisiana rice farms.

For example, prior to the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, Deliberto worked with industry partners to demonstrate how risk management tools such as farm program and crop insurance products help farmers contend with unfavorable commodity prices and rising input costs.

“This type of representative farm analysis combines policy research and farm management practices to create a snapshot of the current state of the rice farm economy in Louisiana,” he said.

He also is studying climate-smart agriculture practices. One project aims to determine the cost effectiveness of alternative irrigation systems such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD).

Newsletters: Deliberto keeps stakeholders informed through a monthly crop market report. This newsletter offers updates on domestic and international factors influencing the global rice market.

Deliberto also writes a quarterly agricultural policy newsletter. It covers issues such as the farm bill, labor, conservation programs, exports and trade.

To subscribe to either of these newsletters, email Deliberto at mdeliberto@agcenter.lsu.edu.