New Blog- Wintertime for this rice farmer

Winter is a nice respite from the hectic pace of the growing season.  Everyone at the farm is finally able to catch a few deep breaths, we work shorter hours while still getting done what needs to.  In our farm shop we are building new equipment for the spring and repairing and maintaining the rest of the old equipment on shorter hours.   I attend a lot of meetings.  Industry meetings, landlord meetings, bank meetings, water meetings, too many meetings for my liking.

The best part of the slower winter pace is having more time for fun family things- that included a great Christmas and New Year’s celebration with friends and family. 

 My wife Melissa’s family has a long tradition of butchering and making pork sausage stemming from their strong German heritage. 

We all come together and spend the day cutting meat, grinding, seasoning, stuffing, and hanging the sausage for smoking.  We enjoy it all year long.

Many rice farmers enjoy spending time in the duck blind.  Prior to having my wife and I starting our family, I definitely considered myself part of that crowd.  A young family and busy schedule take precedence however, and my time in the blind was reduced to just about one day a year.  That changed last February when my son Gus took and passed the hunter’s safety test. 

Taking him hunting, teaching him the way my father taught me, and sharing in his new experiences.  It also has the added benefit of increasing my blind time fivefold.

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Sean Doherty is a 3rd generation rice farmer living out his dream, being a rice farmer in Dunnigan.

He farms in Yolo, Colusa, and Sutter Counties with his wife Melissa, and three kids, Hannah, Gus, and Mary. He enjoys being in the fields, watching the seasons, and sharing it with his family.

Read more about Sean in Rice Farming magazine