Most U.S. rice farmers don’t think about Bangladesh when talk turns to their biggest competitors in the world rice markets. Those conversations usually include India, China, Brazil and, until recently, Thailand. In 2018-19, Bangladesh is expected to increase plantings by 500,000 hectares (1 hectare equals 2.47 acres) to a near-record 11.77 million hectares. The jump in Bangladesh production is expected to help push world rice production to a new record. The total U.S. rice acreage is about 1 million hectares so Bangladesh increased its plantings by almost half the size of the U.S. crop. That 11.77 or 11.8 million hectares would be just a fraction off their record area.