New blog from Tom Butler- From Harvest to Hawaii

When our three combines came to rest at 9:14pm on November 11 for the last time this season (I may have been looking at the clock) it meant a quite a lot of things to myself and my family. Chiefly, it meant another rice harvest, my ninth, had finally come to a close after a late start, several delays, and the threat of rain constantly looming over each day.

It was a surprising one for me too; I had spent the second unseasonably mild summer in a row readying myself for what I was sure to be smaller yields, likely made worse by the inevitable October storm that was sure not to miss us two years in a row. Thankfully, I make a terrible weatherman.

The other accomplishment within our family was something else I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to deliver on. Earlier in the year, my Mother, two sisters, and wife all organized a family wide trip to Hawaii for Thanksgiving.

All year long, my Dad and I had to play the heavy,(“it’s going to be a tough fall guys” became our mantra) and I seriously doubted my prospects of going as the calendar turned to November and I counted the acreage remaining to finish.

So with a lot of luck, we were able to spend Thanksgiving together in Kailua, Oahu. Needless to say, it was a great holiday filled with trips to Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Diamond Head, and horseback tour through one of the first cattle ranches on the island (wife’s idea).

Another nice view I got was the entire aisle of California rice on display in the local Safeway.

There really is no way for me to close this update out without sounding like a rejected TV episode special message,

so I’ll just simply state that when I sat back towards the end of the trip and reflected on the year this year, I truly had too many things to be thankful to count. I also had a mountain of things waiting for me when I got back Sunday, and as we continue to flood up our fields for the winter waterfowl, do the dormant fertilization in our almond orchard, and begin the process of shipping our rice out of dryer, it all begins again.

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More about Tom: Tom Butler farms rice with his father, Steve, in Sutter and Yolo Counties. Tom is the fourth generation of his family to farm.

When he’s not on the job, the University of Nebraska graduate enjoys swimming, water polo, hunting and spending time with his family.