Rice farmer Josh Sheppard loves to talk about the work he and his family do to bring nutritious, safe, and environmentally-friendly California-grown rice to your grocery store. “It’s a great story to share and one I feel consumers are hungry to hear.”

The majority of people have left rural life behind and lost connectivity to the land where their food and fiber is grown. Lucky for us, Josh and his family, going back to his great-grandfather and now including his father and his son, are passionate about cultivating the earth and are still on the farm, growing rice in the summer and fall and, in winter, creating wildlife habitat on their fallowed fields.

Post-harvest, the rice-growing regions of California serve as a surrogate for the natural wetlands that historically existed there and where more than 230 species of wildlife gravitate for shelter and food. Millions of ducks, geese, and shorebirds fuel up in California rice fields while on their annual migration through North America. These same fields also help nourish and strengthen baby salmon as they find their way out to the sea. 

Josh reminds us, “There’s no other crop that can match U.S. rice when it comes to net gains for the environment.”