New blog- History that spans cultures

By Tim Johnson, California Rice Commission President & CEO

Often history is seen as a single thread. Past events are translated as something belonging only to one people or associated with a single place. As a result, book titles like “American History” or “History of the California Gold Rush” proliferate. In truth, however, one event nearly always influences another. One thread is woven into a whole fabric on the loom of time. This is certainly true with the Gold Hill Wakamatsu Colony.

I had the great opportunity to visit the Gold Hill Wakamatsu Colony site last week with members of the Japanese Consulate’s office in San Francisco and acclaimed sushi chef Tomoharu Nakamura of Sanraku.

This image of these three Japanese men standing on the porch of an 1854 American farmhouse struck me forcefully. This must have been close to the image of the original colonists standing in the same spot in 1869 after a long day farming!

While the first Japanese colonists in the U.S. were only in Gold Hill for a few short years, their impact was widespread. The Placer County town of Penryn later became an all–Japanese community replete with two grocery stores and many other shops. Japanese laborers migrated to Colusa County in the early 1900’s to work in the adjacent rice fields. Japanese agriculturalists became known for their fruit and nursery stock across the state.

In 1869, nineteen colonists traveled to the Gold Hill site in wagons from Sacramento – the last leg on a journey that started by steamship to San Francisco and paddle wheel up the Sacramento River. Their initial impact on history was small and limited to the small El Dorado County towns of Gold Hill and Placerville. Certainly their countrymen in Japan knew of the settlement. That was about the extent, however.

A century and a half later we can see how this small first step on U.S. soil impacted not only a state and one culture, but also an entire nation and all its people. Certainly it impacted one person who grew up less than ten miles from the Colony site and later went to work in the California rice industry. For that I am grateful.

New video from Josh Sheppard- Season Finale

Family farmer Josh Sheppard of Butte County comments on the final hours of his 2011 harvest.

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Josh Sheppard is proud to be part of the fourth generation of his family that have been farming rice in Butte County for many generations. After receiving degrees in Agribusiness and Water Science from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in 1997 he returned to the 3,000 acre family rice operation with his parents, a brother, and a sister. Josh and his wife, Kathryn, have two children.

When he’s not on the farm, he enjoys time as a volunteer for the California Waterfowl Association and his children's youth basketball programs.

Photo Album- Nighttime Rice Harvesting in the Sacramento Valley

Photographer Brian Baer captures images of family farmer Sean Doherty harvesting rice near Dunnigan.

View photo album

Video from Brian McKenzie- A different view of newly-harvest California Rice

Family farmer Brian McKenzie describes the volume of grain produced at his farm in the Natomas area.

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Brian McKenzie proudly represents the fourth generation of rice farmers in his family. Following his graduation in 2005 from The University of Nevada Reno where he earned bachelors degrees in Economics and Marketing, Brian returned to the family farm in South Sutter County to farm full-time alongside his father, Chris. Brian and his wife, Ashley, grow several varieties of conventional and organic rice. Brian enjoys the challenges that farming brings and takes pride in producing food for the world.

Guest blog- Rice Works in California

By Val Dolcini, State Executive Director
USDA Farm Service Agency – California

As the fall harvest continues for California’s 2,500 family rice farmers, let me say thanks to this important industry. These are the men and women whose businesses and operations contribute up to 25,000 jobs to the state economy, a fact worth highlighting these days.

The primary mission of my agency is to provide a “safety net” for our state’s farmers and ranchers. FSA and USDA programs offer a baseline of protection for nearly all of California’s farmers and ranchers who are highly exposed to risk from natural disasters, pests and invasive species, and other events that can cripple a family business. These “safety net” programs can make a real difference. When a farm or ranch fails, the underlying vitality of a community is weakened and that can lead to negative impacts on the rural communities where farmers and farm employees live and work.

Rural California depends on agriculture for jobs and economic growth and the annual revenue generated by the rice industry in California totals almost $2 billion. California is also a major player in Pacific Rim trade and our state’s rice industry is an extremely important contributor, not only to our own economy, but to the world’s diet and well-being, too. The recently announced Free Trade Agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama are good news for California producers, continuing to open doors in new and emerging markets that will benefit Golden State agriculture as well as our rural economies.

FSA is proud of its successful partnership with California rice farmers and will continue to work with all the state’s farmers and ranchers to keep the industry in good health. If you want to learn more about what the Farm Service Agency does in California, visit us at www.fsa.usda.gov/ca.

Video from Peter Rystrom- Midway point of family rice harvest

Family farmer Peter Rystrom describes the progress being made during this season's rice harvest in Butte County.

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After completing his college education, Peter Rystrom is happily back at work as a fourth-generation farmer in Butte County. Working alongside his father Steve, grandfather Don, uncle Gary and several cousins, this family has a century-long tradition of rice farming in the Sacramento Valley.

After graduating from UC Davis with an International Relations and Spanish double major, he worked with Community Enterprise Solutions in Guatemala and lead tours across the United States for Trek America.

Peter enjoys the change in seasons on the farm and the freedom of being outside all day.

When he’s not on the farm, he enjoys backpacking trips into the mountains as well as world travel. Other passions include being involved in the lives of others through church small groups and friendships, both at home and abroad.

Video- Family rice harvest featured for upcoming painting

Artist Boyd Gavin of Sacramento discusses the setting in Colusa County for his upcoming painting about California rice.

Video- Assembly Member Richard Pan tours California Ricelands

Assembly Member Richard Pan comments after riding a rice harvester and touring a field in Sutter County.

Blog post by Debra DeWit- Busy Season

This week has been a pretty interesting one for my family and me.
As far as school goes, I have been generally swamped by all the work given to me by my teachers and today I took the PSAT’s. I’m hoping for good scores.

My dad had originally planned to start harvesting early last week, but Monday’s rain held us back from starting. The rain made the dirt roads on the Conway Ranch in Yolo County (where my dad farms) turn to mud and he can’t get through. But last Wednesday, there was no rain and he was able to start. Recently though, he has had some trouble with equipment, which can delay the process quite a bit depending on what needs to be fixed.

As far as the rice crop itself, it’s looking good. The moisture level is at 20 to 21 percent, which is just the ideal level for harvest. So far, my dad has gotten twenty-two loads of rice off to the dryer. Though this is a good start, my dad wishes to start sending eight loads to the dryer a day, once everything starts running smoothly and hopefully that’s as soon as possible.

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Debra DeWit: "I grew up in Davis and have been around both my grandpa’s and dad’s rice farms most of my life. My grandpa was the one that started farming and passed the tradition on to my dad. My dad farms rice in Yolo County and my grandpa farms rice in Sutter, Yolo and Sacramento counties. I enjoy talking to my dad and grandpa about their days in the fields and gaining more knowledge about the crop and the business. Currently, my family and I live in Davis, and I go to the high school there. I like to hang out with friends, write, draw, go hunting with my dad and my grandpa, teach Sunday school and going to youth group."

Video from farmer Brian McKenzie- Making up for delays in rice country

Family farmer Brian McKenzie updates the latest from this season's rice harvest.

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Brian McKenzie proudly represents the fourth generation of rice farmers in his family. Following his graduation in 2005 from The University of Nevada Reno where he earned bachelors degrees in Economics and Marketing, Brian returned to the family farm in South Sutter County to farm full-time alongside his father, Chris. Brian and his wife, Ashley, grow several varieties of conventional and organic rice. Brian enjoys the challenges that farming brings and takes pride in producing food for the world.

Blog post from Lauren LaGrande- Finally Sunshine!

The past few weeks have been pretty challenging here in Maxwell.

"Rain rain go away, come back another day..." And by another day, we mean not during rice harvest! The storms that recently passed through left wet ground, overcast skies, water droplets sprinkled over the rice, and harvesters and bankout wagons that remained parked.

The weather caused quite a dilemma in our rice community. Since the rain and the wind caused the rice to lie down, the harvester can't pick all of it, causing the farmer to lose money. Also, when harvesting rice, the rice must be at a certain moisture percentage, so add a little rain and that moisture percentage increases, and so does you’re delayed harvest time.

Although the kids at school are finally excited to wear their boots, rain is the last thing we need right now!

Fortunately sunny skies and warm weather is back in rice country, so my dad is happy and the harvesters are back in action!

Back at Maxwell, the FFA officers returned from their leadership conference COLC which was at camp Tehama and FFA members are preparing for our new fundraiser, which will be a spooky haunted house, so come if your dare for a great scare! We are also preparing for our Breast Cancer Awareness Day where the entire student body will be a sea of different shades of pink and will show that Maxwell High School is passionately pink for a cure. And the volleyball team prepares for even more long car trips to play games. Since we are such a small school, we don't have team buses, nor do we play many teams that are close to us. An hour and a half to two-hour drive is normal for us. We even play one school that is a three and a half hour drive of nothing but windy roads. But we keep ourselves busy by challenging games of eye spy and categories. Not to mention, blaring the radio and singing along to the newest Taylor Swift or Jason Aldean song. I'll be sure to update again when I have more details on our FFA secret fundraiser, I'll give you all one hint though... Save the Ag shop, join the fun, be a part of our "rice run!" :)

I'm really excited for my next blog because of our new FFA fundraiser idea. We are raising money to save our Ag shop and since Colusa County is the number one rice producing county in California, all of the FFA members are going on a "rice run" which will include a rice trailer decorated with balloons and signs and a line of students driving in their trucks to farmers' fields and asking them to donate however much rice they would like into the trailer. If we fill up the entire trailer we will have about $8,000, which we desperately need! Everyone jokes about the fundraiser because we say only in Maxwell would this ever be a fundraiser. So I'll be sure to update on that next time. Hopefully we’ll make our goal.

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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.

Blog from Dennis Lindberg- Testing one’s nerves

All farmers must react to the weather and act accordingly, but it doesn’t make the early fall rains any less frustrating.

On our family farm, I feel fortunate that we are about half done with the rice harvest. However, what remains to be cut could prove a challenge. The rainfall in recent weeks has matted down the remaining rice fields, which makes harvest much more labor intensive.

I’m hoping for more fair weather and north winds, which can help dry things out a bit.

It’s pretty challenging right now throughout the Sacramento Valley. Rice growers far and wide have to adjust to the storms that have hit. This isn’t anything new, however. We will find a way to get the crop in.

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Dennis Lindberg has grown rice in Butte County for nearly 70 consecutive years.He’s a well-known author and metal artist, taking scrap metal and creating beautiful animal sculptures. His civic work and love of community is evidenced by his being honored as “Outstanding Citizen of the 20th Century” by Lundberg Family Farms. He and his wife Charlotte have two children – Gary and Sherry. Gary farms with his father in the historic community of Richvale, which recently celebrated its centennial.

Blog from Punch Haskell: Slow Start to Harvest

The recent rains have created some pretty distinct challenges to my harvest plans.

Enough rain has fallen that I haven’t been able to start harvest in any appreciable way, but I hope to get rolling this week. It’s important for me and fellow growers to be as productive as we can as soon as we can, because any future storms could create more problems.

When soaking rains hit, the mature rice plants may lay down in the field, which is considered lodging. Also, getting our harvesters into what turns into a quagmire almost doubles the time you spend – which doubles the cost of production.

A lot of rice remains to be harvested throughout the Sacramento Valley. We have faced weather challenges before and will persevere. Right now, it’s all about getting the job done.

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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.

UC official discusses Sustainability and rice

Tom Tomich, Director of the UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute, comments on sustainability in California, including work by the state's rice farmers.

Artist Boyd Gavin tours rice country for painting project

Sacramento artist Boyd Gavin provides comments on his tour of the Sacramento Valley, scouting out a painting that will honor California's rice industry. His painting will likely feature a family rice farm in western Colusa County.

Video- Maintaining trucks for California Rice farms

Family farmer Josh Sheppard of Butte County describes the steps needed to maintain his fleet of trucks.

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Josh Sheppard is proud to be part of the fourth generation of his family that have been farming rice in Butte County for many generations. After receiving degrees in Agribusiness and Water Science from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in 1997 he returned to the 3,000 acre family rice operation with his parents, a brother, and a sister. Josh and his wife, Kathryn, have two children.

Guest blog- Branding an Industry

“We want an image that brands an industry, not a crop.” Those were the words that resonated in my mind after the first meeting between the Page Design Group team and California Rice Commission CEO Tim Johnson, regarding the new design for California Rice. This meeting took place in November of 2010 and marked our beginning of the project. Tim was very informative in laying out the framework for the project by presenting an overview of the industry’s current position and his vision for going forward. Even though Page Design Group has partnered with the California Rice Industry for more than 15 years, predating the Commission itself, it’s always helpful to begin a creative project with a wealth of information from an industry leader like Tim.

Working with the fruits of that meeting, project manager, Tracy Titus, and the rest of the design team of Eric Grotenhuis, Kurt Kland, Heather Orr-Martinez, Laurel Mathe and Sara Kunz put together a creative brief to serve as the foundation for our design process. We reviewed the brief with Jim Morris at the Rice Commission to confirm we were on the right track. One of the main tenets of the brief was that “California Rice is to be presented as THE environmental crop” – solidifying the efforts of the Commission and the rice industry over the past decade and a half to be an environmental champion. It was also suggested that, with the strong ties the Commission has established with native waterfowl species, it would be beneficial and appropriate to use waterfowl in the logo imagery.

With the groundwork of the creative brief laid out in front of us, the fun of the design process can truly begin. Page Designers work with the freedom that any and all ideas are appropriate to explore, but also with the knowledge that those ideas must ultimately be tested against the creative brief. Our first round of designs was ample enough to cover our entire conference table. Some of the ideas were fairly refined, others were the modern-day equivalent of cocktail napkin sketches. Typically we like to bring in our clients in at this point for a first review so they can see all of the directions and help us to narrow our choices. Tim and Jim were willing participants in this review, which took place early this year. Through their comments, we were able to follow the best solutions for refinement and leave some of our ideas behind. Several more meetings followed and soon we were focused on six design ideas, each of which showed great promise.

These were among the finalists that were presented at the Commission’s Public Education Committee meeting in March.




Much like Tim and Jim did in our early meetings, committee members provided lively discussion and amazingly insightful design feedback. After the meeting, we were down to two design directions.

At Page Design, we try to be professional and not fall in love with our designs. We want to let client feedback and rational choices rule the day. However, at this point in the process, I must admit I was in love with both of the final two solutions. The circular solution – with the rice, the heron and the buttes – was more of a true “logo”. Kurt and Tracy had encapsulated all of the elements needed for a successful solution into an elegant circle. The second solution was much more one of emotional artistic expression – the rice and heron becoming one in a freeform design.

In the end, artistry won the day. The chosen logo was the product of many who provided information and feedback along the way.


It can be described as elegant, artistic, dynamic, memorable or any number of other adjectives. In my opinion, the best complement is that it is uniquely evocative of the California Rice Industry.

I hope it serves the Commission’s needs for many years.

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Paul Page is Creative Director of Page Design Group in Sacramento. For more information www.pagedesigngroup.com.

Video post: Weather watch in rice country

Family farmer Charley Mathews discusses the challenges that rice growers face when it rains during harvest.

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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 Hilliary have two sons, Parker and Adam.