Fifth-generation farmer Charley Mathews is continuing a family a legacy that began in the 1850s. Their first rice fields were planted in the 1940s and are still going strong in Yuba County.
Charley is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He and his wife Hillary have two sons, Parker and Adam.
"I have been thinking about a blog topic for some time now. It stems from an article I saw on my Yahoo homepage about people’s income scale. The article had a great tagline and those always sucker me in so I clicked it. The report asked where people were on the income scale for example. If you make under $20k a year you are classified as poor, or if you make over a million dollars a year you are wealthy..." Read Sean's Blog
This featured recipe comes from Antonio Villagomez, Head Chef and Owner of Cilantros Restaurant in Yuba City.
"Saving the Farm" - Posted 07/23/10
"Taking Five, Playing Eighteen"
Did you know every piece of sushi made in America comes from California rice? Or that California is the nation's second largest rice producing state, with annual production exceeding four billion pounds?
Bipartisan support in Congress an important link to honoring the Wakamatsu Colony 
"... It’s finally starting to feel like the dog days of summer out here. The temperature is probably going to be around 100 degrees for several days in a row, and the rice is responding well. We finished up our herbicide applications, and we put some more fertilizer on, and the rice is appreciating the extra nitrogen with all this heat..."
An American Icon - Posted Friday, July 16th, 2010
The California Rice Commission sponsored two carving
categories, capturing riceland wildlife.
The prestigious judging panel of the rice wildlife.
The winning carving of a Green Heron, done by artist Jim Burcio of Antioch.
Artist Jim Burcio also won for this rendition of a Wilson's Snipe.
"I'm blogging from 30,000 feet. A first for me. I'm on my way to Dallas for two-and-a-half days of summer meetings with the USA Rice Federation. It’s an organization encompassing rice farmers like me, rice millers, rice marketers, and other industry people..."
"...I just returned from my second session with the USA Rice Leadership Development Program. This program chooses seven individuals each year to participate in the two-year program from throughout the U.S. This session began in Illinois and ended in Arkansas..."
"... This photo shows how one of my rice fields looks after a tractor sprayer with steel wheels goes through the crop. If we don’t spray to kill the grass and sedges it will soon canopy over and kill the rice. The rice is really looking poor. I have talked to several people who have been spraying the weeds in rice and they say it’s the worst stand of rice they have ever seen. It just doesn’t want to tiller very well if at all ... We have to baby this crop so much it's getting ridiculous ..."
