The likelihood is growing that rice prices for the 2026 crop will decline. This month, the Kagoshima Prefecture Economic Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives showed local cooperatives an early-harvest purchase price about 20% lower than the previous year. For early-harvest Koshihikari rice from Miyazaki Prefecture, the advance payment was set at 18,000 yen per 60 kilograms of brown rice, a 45% drop from the previous year's 32,600 yen. Behind this is a supply-demand easing as private-sector inventories have swelled far beyond normal levels. Supermarket rice prices also fell below 3,500 yen per 5 kilograms in the first week of July for the first time in about a year and a half. Industry voices are increasingly calling for an early buyback of stockpiled rice. A Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers' league submitted an emergency resolution, and JA-Zenchu Chairman Shinnou stressed that stockpiles should be replenished to 100% as soon as possible. Meanwhile, within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, there are cautious views concerned that buying back before the harvest could prevent the 2026 crop from being harvested in sufficient volume.