New Blogger Mike DeWit- Winter in Rice Country

Family farmer Mike DeWit comments on the highlights of the season, including large numbers of wildlife in rice fields.

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Mike DeWit, along with his father Jack, grow rice in Sutter, Yolo and Sacramento Counties.  

Mike is a second-generation rice grower.  He and his wife Trucie have two children, Jacob,20, who is severely autistic and living and going to a special school for autism in San Jose. Daughter Debra is a senior at Davis high School.

He is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. While not farming, he enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his family. 

“I feel blessed to do what I do,” Mike said. “It’s not work if you love what you do for a living.”

New blog from Brendan O'Donnell – Historic drink gaining ground in the U.S.

I recently attended the 8th annual Northern California Premium Sake Festival in downtown Sacramento.  For those of you that have never been, be sure to pencil it in your schedule for next year.  What a great time!  Hundreds of different sakes from local breweries as well as Japanese imports.  Did I also mention- great food and a sushi making contest!   Here’s one photo from the event with me, a great sushi chef Billy Ngo of Kru and another friend, Eric Johnson.

And here’s a second photo – this time with Takumi Kuwabara from Takara Sake USA.

Sake is such an interesting thing to me.  It’s unbelievable how the sake makers are able to pull so many complex flavors out of the rice simply by using rice that is milled to different levels and the use of Koji mold to aid in the fermentation.

Sake is brewed, but it is not beer.  Sake is sometimes referred to as “rice wine” but it is not wine.  The Sake making process is unique.  This is a very old diagram from Takara Sake (one of our local California Sake breweries) of the traditional way to make sake.  Of course it is modernized now, but the basic principals are the same.

Sake is classified by the  amount of polishing that the rice receives.  Junmai Sake is made from rice that is milled to 70 percent from brown rice.  This means that if you start with 100 pounds of brown rice, you will continuously and slowly mill the rice on specialized sake equipment until only 70 pounds remain.  Ginjo Sake is made from rice polished to 60 percent and Daiginjo is polished to a minimum of 50 percent.  You will sometimes find Daiginjo sakes that are made from 30 or 40 percent polished sake rice.

If you’re one of the many people that have never tried sake, or if your sake experience is limited to a “hot sake” at a sushi restaurant, I strongly encourage you to visit one of our local sake breweries and spend some time in the tasting room.  With so many different types and flavors of sake, you are guaranteed to find one (or maybe several) that you absolutely love.

There are Two Sake companies right here in Northern California that offer regular tastings in very nice tasting rooms.

Takara Sake in Berkeley

Gekkeikan Sake in Folsom

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Brendan O’Donnell is Vice President, Sales at The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, which mills, packages and markets premium California rice both domestically and around the world. He is the Fifth generation of his family to be involved in California agriculture and has been marketing and promoting California rice since 2007. He is a graduate of UC Davis with a B.S. in Agricultural Systems and Environment and Communications. Brendan is also an active member of the Rice Leadership Development Program. When he’s not selling rice, Brendan enjoys golfing, skiing and spending time with his family. He and his wife, Erin have Two children, Bridget and Liam.

Phil Robertson Poem: My Christmas Goose

Click here to download poem

Rice Experiment Station Centennial Christmas

"Celebrating the history, traditions, progress, and all people that made it happen..."

Download Christmas Card Here

New Blog from Lauren LaGrande: Christmas in Rice Country

By Lauren LaGrande

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (Lucky for you all, I can type better than I can sing.) Winter jackets are being brought out, festive lights are dangling from houses, and flocks of geese can be heard across the skies.

December is here, along with my senior year! Time sure does fly and I can’t believe that the rice harvest, Thanksgiving, and junior year are over.

It felt like our harvest was a bit later this year; this could be because I was looking forward to it or the fact that the rice was a little late maturing throughout the valley.

Although our yields were less this year, we were able to complete harvest in a somewhat timely fashion, just in time for Halloween and the FFA haunted Ag barn.

During the busy month of October I had the privilege of flying to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2012 FFA National Convention. Blue corduroy FFA jackets flooded the streets, as 53,000 members entered the expo building for opening ceremonies, group sessions, and FFA National Talent and boy can they sing!

Our FFA chapter also met new friends from Iowa who were from the awesome town of Riceville, which happens to not only be an imaginary land where I think my dad disappears to sometimes, but an actual FFA chapter.

The national officers chose a theme for the conference, which was “Grow.” I really liked this year’s theme and I think that everyone apply it somehow in their lives and can better from it. So much emphasis was put on the simple word grow, which ironically means so much.  Not only is grow defined as “to increase gradually in size” but to develop, learn, and prosper. Not only can you grow your crops, you can grow as an individual, grow as a team, grow from past experiences, or grow together, but no matter what… just grow.

Then November hit and so did the rain and college application deadlines. The cold weather didn’t stop our annual FFA pheasant hunter’s breakfast we put on for the hunters at the elementary school so they can have a quick bite before heading out on the opening day. It also didn’t stop our family tradition of going pheasant hunting with family friends. So far we have recorded six inches of rain, which means many the rice fields are now filled with standing water and migrating waterfowl from our northern states. Ducks and geese sprinkled with shorebirds inhabit our rice fields. My absolute favorites are the beautiful mallards. I enjoy the view every morning; however I could do without the geese waking me up every morning at 5am to notify me of their arrival. Some people on the other hand live for it! These would include my dad, family friends, classmates, and members of the community. Sometimes here in Maxwell a few boys are missing from first period class because they are still out duck hunting. Local restaurants, diners, hunting stores, and hardware stores are happy to see migrating hunters help out our local economy.

When the town Christmas tree lit up our tiny community, I realized December snuck up on me, which meant so did pesky finals. But luckily, that meant our usual family traditions would be commencing. These traditions include (attempting to) sing old Christmas songs while decorating our house and Christmas tree, hunting for our favorite ornaments, and of course decorating, but mostly, eating sugar cookies.

It’s times like these when I feel truly blessed to live in the community I do and thankful for the family I have. So this holiday, be sure to count your blessings and to make your blessings count! I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas!

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Lauren LaGrande is the latest in a family farming tradition that began nearly 100 years ago. She is a sophomore at Maxwell High School and is active in FFA, Future Business Leaders of America, volleyball, basketball and softball. When she’s on the farm, you’ll often see her with her trusted companion, Hank, the family dog. Lauren’s great-grandfather grew his first rice crop in the Sacramento Valley in 1916 and the family has continued this tradition ever since.

New CRC Blog- Small town with a big heart

By Jim Morris

I have the good fortune to travel frequently throughout the Sacramento Valley and I try to set aside some extra time to make sure to stop and appreciate the small towns that help make it so special.

Recently I went through Biggs just off Highway 99 in Butte County.  I found holiday décor, houses that showed a lot of pride of ownership and something special- a miniature downtown all dressed up for Christmas.

This has been an annual tradition for more than 20 years and was started by homeowners seeking to add a nice holiday touch to their community.  It’s now spearheaded by Roger and Mary Frith.  Roger, a retired electrician, is Mayor of Biggs.  Wife Mary is part of the Biggs Community Action Volunteers.  Formed a year and a half ago, they work to improve the community.  It started with a cleanup and has expanded into beautification projects. The ultimate goal is raising money to buy a projector to play movies for children and the elderly. Their hard work is already paying off and is embodied by this Christmas display.

“There’s a tremendous pride in the communities in the valley,” said Roger. “It’s all about being a part of the community where people appreciate the small things.  We don’t have the luxuries that larger communities have. We like to do what we can to give any pleasure to the people of our community.”

It’s this can do attitude and hardworking spirit that make the Sacramento Valley such a treasure.

As Roger remarked “We always like it when people come in and see our community for the first time.  Everyone thinks ‘This is like Mayberry!’ It’s not a fancy place. It’s just the way it is here in the valley.”

For me, something as small and simple as a Christmas display lovingly maintained by the community typifies something to feel good about this Christmas.

Merry Christmas Biggs.  You’ve already made my holiday season brighter!

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Jim Morris is Communications Manager for the California Rice Commission. Jim has worked in communications for more than 20 years. When he’s not on the job, he enjoys his family, faith, football, outrageous monster stories and running marathons.

New Grant Lundberg Blog- Family is the Foundation

CEO of Lundberg Family Farms Grant Lundberg talks about the importance of family in his life.

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Grant Lundberg is Chief Executive Officer of Lundberg Family Farms in Richvale, Butte County.

New CRC Blog- Must-have Comfort Food

By Julie Cader

Julie is Finance & Administration Manager for the California Rice Commission, and a big proponent of trying new recipes- especially if they feature California rice.

There's nothing like comfort food, especially after a hectic week at the office. So when the crackerjack Ops Team finished fiscal and compliance audits, it was time to turn to comfort food. And with the holidays in full swing, we created our holiday version of comfort food, a yummy rice pudding that included a whisper of nutmeg to the final touch. The following was adapted from Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten’s recipe. And of course, rice pudding is not rice pudding without California rice!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Golden California Raisins
• 3 tablespoons dark spiced rum
• 3/4 cup California Calrose medium grain rice
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 5 cups half-and-half, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• Dash of nutmeg

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum and set aside—you could even do this first step the night before. (Take a sip of rum for yourself, of course!)

Combine the California rice, salt and water in a medium heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to make sure the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer on low heat for 8 to 9 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed.

Stir in 4 cups of half-and-half and add the sugar, bringing to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the rice is very soft and the pudding has become thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir often, particularly towards the end.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg and very slowly whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot pudding to help tempure the egg. Then add the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the pudding and continue to cook for 1 minute. Off the heat, add the remaining cup of half-and-half, the vanilla bean paste, ground cinnamon and the raisins with any remaining rum. Stir well. Pour into a bowl, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chilled with a dash of nutmeg as a garnish.

Note: We prefer to eat the pudding warm, but it is also great cold and serves really well at a party, portioned in individual cups or buffet style. Recipe yields about 8 to 10 servings.  Enjoy!

New Blog from Brendan O'Donnell- A new appreciation of our state

I was very fortunate to be selected for the 2011 Rice Leadership Development Class.  The Class consists of four sessions that provide an in-depth education about many rice related topics and also provide leadership training.  You can find more information about this program here.  I strongly encourage and eligible individuals to apply.

Last month, we had our third class session and will be wrapping up the program in Washington, D.C. in February.  I’ve been looking forward to this session in California from the very beginning of the program.  I’m very proud to be a part of the California rice industry and knew that it would be an impressive visit for our other classmates from other parts of the country.  However, I was unprepared and pleasantly surprised to see how much I would personally gain during this week.

We began Monday morning visiting with the California Rice Commission.  The Rice Commission does a fantastic job positioning California Rice as an environmental leader.  For so many other Ag-related industries, there is a constant battle between the industry members and the regulators.  The CRC has taken a completely different approach and is working with the regulators and conservationists.  California Rice is now viewed as the environmental stewards of the valley, emphasizing water use efficiency, drastic reduction in burning straw and the importance of the rice fields to the countless species of wildlife that depend on the rice fields for their habitat.  

Some of the other stops we made that I felt were especially impactful included a stop to the Glenn Colusa Irrigation district.  I never gave much thought to how water is actually pulled from the river for irrigation, or how you would need to prevent pulling in fish.  The size and length of their new fish screen was remarkable.  A screen that is 1,100 ft long, and slats that are no wider than the flat side of a penny means that no fish, no matter how small could possibly be pulled into these irrigation canals.  I took a photo to better show off how small the slats are on this fish screen.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about these sessions is the breadth of different types of agriculture we are being exposed to.  For example, seeing the crawfish farms in Louisiana, or now in California, seeing the almond, walnut and pistachio farms, or the vegetable crops and lettuce farming.  Even visiting Napa Valley before the class started helped put things in perspective.  One of the most interesting things I learned about all these different types of agriculture is what the different land values are worth.  We spoke about rice ground in Louisiana or Arkansas which might sell for around $3,500 per acre (more or less), and then we saw the rice ground in California, which most people will agree is at least $8,000 per acre, maybe up to $10,000 depending on who you ask.  Visiting the lettuce farms was a shock.  The land values alone are about $35,000 per acre before you even account for the literally hundreds of people you need to employ due to hand-harvesting.  Seeing the amount of overhead that goes into these operations makes you wonder how these guys can stay in business year after year.  One bad year, or just a low priced market and their fixed costs will eat them alive.  The lettuce farms are also treated like a processing plant.  Since it is a fresh market product and they have had a history of some potentially dangerous things like e-coli, dogs are not allowed on the farms and you are required to wear hairnets just to walk in to the field!   

It is a very surreal experience and makes me happy to be in the rice business!  We had an opportunity to stop in Napa before the session started, and out of curiosity, we asked the tour guide at the Robert Mondavi Winery about approximate land values for an acre of wine grapes in Napa Valley.  $300,000 per acre!

Overall, this has been another truly educational experience for me and for my classmates.  I especially want to thank John Deere, Rice Tec and American Commodity Company for sponsoring this program and having the foresight to educate, train and develop our future leaders, giving them the tools they need to make a bigger and better U.S. Rice industry.  I can’t wait for our next session in Washington, D.C!

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Brendan O’Donnell is Vice President, Sales at The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, which mills, packages and markets premium California rice both domestically and around the world. He is the Fifth generation of his family to be involved in California agriculture and has been marketing and promoting California rice since 2007. He is a graduate of UC Davis with a B.S. in Agricultural Systems and Environment and Communications. Brendan is also an active member of the Rice Leadership Development Program. When he’s not selling rice, Brendan enjoys golfing, skiing and spending time with his family. He and his wife, Erin have Two children, Bridget and Liam.

New CRC Blog- New Conservation Chief a win for our environment

By Paul Buttner

One visit to the Sacrament Valley provides ample evidence of the valuable environmental role of rice.  Our farmers have had tremendous success partnering with conservation groups, instituting numerous programs that maintained or sometimes even enhanced wildlife habitat.

Carlos Suarez

These partnerships will only grow in importance in the coming years, as we work together to find creative paths of environmental stewardship.

That’s why this week’s announcement of Carlos Suarez as our new State Conservationist is such welcome news.

Carlos has the experience, drive and leadership to keep the string of environmental successes enjoyed in rice country. I’m very excited about what he brings to the job.

Carlos spent three years as California’s Deputy State Conservationist, so he understands natural resource issues in our state.  He will move from his job as State Conservationist in Florida and will start work in California next month.

On behalf of California rice farmers, we welcome you back Carlos and look forward to many successful programs in the coming years!

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Paul Buttner is Manager of Environmental Affairs for the California Rice Commission.

New Blog from Punch Haskell: Front row on the Flyway

The pace has slowed a bit following the rice harvest but there’s still plenty to do.  At this time of the year, our family has seasonal work with cattle and we’re also maintaining the rice that’s in storage awaiting shipment to the mill.  There’s also plenty of catching up on paperwork as another year comes to a close.

While busy, there still are moments when I can view and marvel at all of the migrating wildlife.  It’s already been a great season for geese – both snows and specks.  Duck populations are also growing daily. In fact, we’re getting a lot of visitors from many states coming to the nearby Colusa Wildlife Refuge to try for a glimpse at what may become an annual visitor from China- the Falcated Duck.

It has certainly been a promising start for rainfall.  Hopefully in the coming months it will cool and we’ll get plenty of snowfall in the mountains. A wet winter will hopefully ensure we have enough water to carry us through during the rice growing season next summer.

We’re also getting close to Christmas, and we will spend it close to home, enjoying family and nature that’s around us.

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Punch Haskell grows rice in Colusa County and is part of a family farming operation that began approximately 60 years ago.

New video: Enjoying Sacramento Valley Winter Wildlife

Artist, Educator and Naturalist John Muir Laws comments on the joy of viewing wildlife in the Sacramento Valley during the winter months.

New CRC Blog: 30,000 sloshy steps, give or take a few thousand

By Jim Morris

Yesterday marked a rainy, windy 30th annual California International Marathon.  I had the good fortune to run my 5th CIM and we had the misfortune of running into some heavy rain and whipping winds for most of it.

I believe the old adage “you are what you eat” contributed to my ability to complete the 26.2 miles.  Our family has been working to add more whole grains to our diet. As I started training in the summer, I decided to take that up a notch, trying California brown rice pasta from Lundberg Family Farms.  Erase any preconceived thought you may have about rice pasta – it’s easy to prepare and has been well received by our finicky family.  It helped me fuel up and settled really well.

The pre-race dish involved Lundberg’s brown rice spaghetti, simply prepared with a little butter, salt and Parmesan – accompanied by grilled chicken and a salad.  Just what I needed!

I finished the marathon and met all of my goals including finish without major injury.

It was an added benefit to be running on behalf of Battle for Veterans, an organization that helps disabled veterans acclimate back into society.  There were even some disabled vets that ran yesterday, which made my temporary discomfort seem trivial.

You may not have a marathon in your future, but as New Year’s resolution season approaches, an easy way towards better health is whole grains.  In this case, brown rice pasta is a winner in our household.

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Jim Morris is Communications Manager for the California Rice Commission. Jim has worked in communications for more than 20 years. When he’s not on the job, he enjoys his family, faith, football, outrageous monster stories and running marathons.