Harvesting hope for rice farmers

After months of care and labor, my farm and others in the area have reached the most critical and exciting part of the year – harvest.

Our fields in Colusa and Glenn counties are looking good, and it’s exciting and gratifying to do our part to provide a daily staple that feeds more than half of the world daily.

This will be my family’s 57th harvest, and I’m making plans to ensure that this farm will stay viable for my son to eventually take the reins. To do that, we farmers must face our challenges honestly and directly, bearing in mind the latest ways to communicate in this rapidly changing society. The reality is that, even though California rice makes significant contributions to the state’s environment, economy, culture and cuisine, our value is not fully understood by the 98 percent of the population not directly involved in farming.

This fact underscores the value of getting our messages to the public, especially to legislators and regulators who have a major impact on our business.  I appreciate the California Rice Commission’s public education efforts, including “Little Water, Big Results,” which brought the message of water efficiency in rice farming to hundreds of thousands of urban residents. For too long, our industry and others in the Sacramento Valley have not been fully appreciated. Our towns are filled with compelling stories, dedicated families and generations of history that are among California’s biggest, though lesser publicized, success stories.

Here in Colusa County, rice is the top valued crop, providing $188 million to the local economy in 2007. California’s rice crop value ranked 14th among the state’s commodities, with a record $583 million last year.

These are significant numbers, and only the beginning of the benefits that come from our fields. We have a great story to tell, and it’s time the rest of California hears it.

So in this age of instant communication, of blogs, sound bites and instant messaging, this farmer finds comfort that the core factors that I need to continue to farm are getting out to an urban audience that needs a little education.

I trust it will help me and my family continue doing what we love for decades to come – providing locally grown food, habitat for hundreds of species and jobs for our economy.

Riley “Punch” Haskell lives in Colusa.