Missouri’s Bootheel is prime rice country. Just ask Rance Daniels, a farmer whose rice acreage there is around 1,800 acres. His family began growing rice in the late 80s and really started to expand their stake in the crop in the mid-90s, about the time Rance graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in Agriculture Business and Economics.

After college, Rance returned to the family farm. As his duties there increased so did his urge to travel to rice-producing areas in the United States and around the world to see how others farm rice and to bring back their best practices to his family’s operation. “The opportunity to travel opened my eyes to new ideas and farming methods but it also made me realize the importance of marketing and promotion, what happens to my crop after it leaves my farm, and ways to broaden the appeal of U.S. rice here as well as in overseas markets.”

Rance and his wife, Robin, have three children and so far it looks like their only son is interested in farming and looking forward to getting involved in the family business as he gets older. Rance is excited by the prospect of passing the farm to the next generation. “I can’t think of a better way to make a living:  being outdoors and spending time with my family, working hard to keep this land viable so we can keep feeding our hungry world.”