This is a good year for U.S. rice as China has moved forward on an approval process for buying it, and now the Nikkei reports that Japanese consumers are being allowed to eat more of it. Controversial Clovis The media has characterized the nomination of Sam Clovis to be USDA undersecretary with responsibility for managing scientific research as the most controversial pick in 15 years. Most of the opposition is political, much as it was 15 years ago, but critics complain that he lacks a science background and doesn’t know agriculture. Teaching economics in northwest Iowa inherently involves agriculture, and it does not require a science degree to manage scientists. After all, of the eleven U.S. senators overseeing USDA agricultural researc...