At an event a couple of weeks ago, someone asked how long I’d been working for the US Rice Producers Association. I gave my usual answer – five years this summer – and mentioned my family’s connection to rice, with producers on both sides.
“How cool that you’re carrying on your family’s legacy, just in a different way,” they said.
Even with generations of farming in my family, I’d never thought about it like that.
One of my great-grandmothers came up to southeast Missouri from central Arkansas to pick cotton every year. Eventually, she married the farmer’s son and stayed. It’s why I’m here in the Bootheel; partly why I am who I am today.
So many of us in this industry are doing exactly that: carrying on family legacies. Farming alongside siblings and parents, aunts and uncles, cousins. Selling crop insurance because that’s what our dad did. Working at the local equipment dealership with roots so deep in the community most of us can’t remember a time when it wasn’t here. Agriculture isn’t just what we do, it’s who we are.
But that legacy feels like it’s at a crossroads. The average U.S. farmer is in their late 50s, and the bottom line has been tough for years. Farmers don’t want handouts; they want markets and policies that offer long-term solutions.
So, what do you do when your legacy is in question?
You work like hell to protect it.
You advocate for support, for market access, and for fair trade. That’s what the US Rice Producers Association has been focused on – especially in recent months – pushing for new opportunities abroad, strengthening existing markets, and making sure U.S. rice can compete on a level playing field. Leaving no stone unturned during a time when our producers simply can’t afford another dismal marketing year.
At the end of the day, selling U.S. rice isn’t just about the product. It’s about protecting the legacy built by generations before us, and ensuring there’s something left for the generations to come. I’m proud to stand alongside the producers carrying that legacy forward. ∆
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