The Japan Agricultural News Senior special writer, Masaru Yamada
Many farming regions in Japan are working on increasing cultivation of rice for livestock feed in an effort to improve the supply-demand balance of rice. The total acreage reached 80,000 hectares last year.
The production is highly likely to continue expanding in the future, backed by rich government subsidies and support from agricultural organizations. This has also helped gradually recover the prices of table rice.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimates that there is roughly 4.42 million tons of potential demand for feed rice. If some 10 million tons of corn imported from countries such as the United States to be used as feed is replaced with domestic feed rice, it will also contribute to raising Japan’s low food self-sufficiency rate.
However, I believe I’m not alone in thinking that many of the farmers do not necessarily see a bright future in feed rice production.
A rice farmer whom I have known for years said: “I’m joining the drive to increase feed rice production because it is more profitable, but it is risky to rely too much on it. You don’t know when they will pull the rug out.”
His concerns have much to do with the history of Japan’s rice policy which has flip-flopped for reasons including tight fiscal conditions, pressure from foreign countries and change in administration, leaving farmers confused.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is eagerly trying to wipe away the farmers’ worries, pledging to secure lasting funding to support feed rice production so that farmers can feel safe in continuing their business. It sounds promising enough, but recently a new concern has come up regarding the issue – a pressure from the United States, the main exporter of corn.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, in its report on Japan’s grain and feed industry released in March, analyzes Japan’s feed rice policy in detail. It states that the Japanese government provides subsidy of 105,000 yen per 10 ares for feed rice production, and shows its own forecast based on agriculture ministry data that Japan’s annual feed rice production will reach 540,000 tons in brown rice this year.
The report says that corn has been the main ingredient of compound feed in Japan, but forecasts Japan’s corn imports to decrease along with an expected increase of rice in feed, hinting at the possibility of a decline in U.S. exports of corn for feed.
There are no signs at this stage of the U.S. government or industrial organizations singling out feed rice for criticism. The Japan-U.S. relations have recently been unbelievably calm, but we cannot be off our guard. A former senior agriculture ministry official traveled all over to Washington D.C. in February and said in his speech that if he were an official of the U.S. government, he would sue Japan before the World Trade Organization over feed rice subsidy, and Japan would definitely lose the case.
If the U.S. starts seriously criticizing Japan’s feed rice subsidies, can Japan rebut their claims by saying they should be expanded because feed rice is necessary? I am not at all sure whether I can assure my farmer friend that there is nothing to worry.
It is important for farmers to make their own judgement by closely examining the rosy promises the government and politicians make.