A 15-year effort to open China's doors to U.S. rice growers could mean a boom for Southeast Missouri farmers if a sanitary protocols agreement is reached soon.

The protocols have been in limbo since China joined the World Trade Organization in 1999, keeping U.S. rice out of Chinese markets.

China has gone from being a rice exporter, however, to importing more than 2 million tons of the grain, said B.J. Campbell, past chairman of the U.S. Rice Producers Association.

Meanwhile, Missouri is the fifth-biggest rice producer in the U.S., with export receipts topping $120 million in 2013. Arkansas is No. 1, but because water is lacking there, an expansion in that state is not expected.

"It's moving this way, it's moving to north Arkansas, and more into Missouri because that's where the water is," said Greg Yielding of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association.

Officials from the U.S. and the People's Republic of China are expected to sign the protocol agreement next week when Chinese president Xi Jinping makes a visit to Washington, D.C., according to the USRPA.

While the sanitary protocols agreement still is expected to be signed, it may not be until November, and the actual signing likely will take place in China.

"It kind of fell through for next week," Campbell said. "(Chinese delegates) are hesitant to put a specific date on it. The secretary of agriculture is supposed to be in Beijing in November, and, hopefully, that is when it will happen."

The protocols ensure rice imported to China is food quality and free of pests and disease, and they must be in place before imports can occur.

"There are six different bugs that China does not want in their country," Campbell said. "The good news is we don't have these pests in the U.S.; however, we still have to put the traps out with bait in them for these particular insects."