Comstock's magazine 0919 - September 2019 | Page 46

n AGRICULTURE
K
en LaGrande was with his family in London in ear-
ly July when he received the blockbuster news. His
global rice team was at an industry event in China
when it finally sealed a deal LaGrande and his Sun
Valley Rice business had been negotiating for near-
ly 15 years — China agreed to import his California rice. It
was the first time China reached a deal with an American
rice farmer, opening up the California rice market to the
No. 1 consumer of rice in the world.
“Our strongest … potential customer said ‘We’re ready.’
And we said, ‘We’re ready.’ And we struck a deal. It was as
simple as that. After almost 15 years, it came down to they
were ready,” says LaGrande, CEO of Sun Valley Rice, found-
er of LaGrande Family Foods Group and a fifth-generation
rice farmer in the Sacramento Valley. “I reacted by buying
dinner and a couple of extra bottles of wine.”
It was the latest and most significant development for
California’s $5 billion rice industry that employs 25,000.
Rice is one of the state’s most diversified crops, producing
all the sushi rice used in the U.S.; all the rice used to brew
Budweiser at Anheuser-Busch’s Fairfield plant; carbohy-
drates for pet food; grains for Kellogg’s, General Mills and
Quaker Oats cereals; ingredients for sake brewing; and
poultry beds for Foster Farms.
“There’s definitely something for use for everything that
comes out of those rice fields,” says Chris Crutchfield, presi-
dent and CEO of American Commodity Company, which op-
erates a rice mill and packaging plant in Williams. The com-
pany delivers to customers in the U.S. and around the world,
including Turkey and parts of Asia.
“California rice is largely viewed, certainly around North
America but around the world as well, as some of if not the
highest quality of rice,” Crutchfield says.
Tim Johnson, president and CEO of the California Rice
Commission, an organization of 2,500 rice farmers, agrees.
Buyers know the product has met the U.S.’s strict regulations
involving water quality, pesticide management and safety
standards at mills that process the grain.
Ninety-five percent of California’s 550,000-plus acres is
in the Sacramento Valley, in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Sut-
ter, Yuba, Glenn, Butte and Colusa counties, according to the
commission. Conditions are perfect. Hard clay soil provides
a basin for the 5 inches of water required for rice to grow;
crystal-clear water from the Sierra Nevada that flows into the
Sacramento River helps it thrive; and the region’s Mediterra-
nean climate of hot, dry summers helps the grains to grow.
The average American eats 25 pounds of rice a year,
compared to Asian countries, where people eat 100 pounds
Haarmeyer
WINE CELLARS
610 Harbor Blvd. • West Sacramento, CA
haarmeyerwinecellars.com
Tastings by appointment
46
comstocksmag.com | September 2019