2019
RICE AWARDS Horizon Ag, Rice Farming and USA Rice are proud to bring you the recipients of the 2019 Rice Awards. The program highlights three honorees for their contributions to the success of the U.S. rice industry through the Rice Farmer of the Year, the Rice Industry Award and the Rice Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jennifer James RICE FARMER OF THE YEAR AWARD
G
PHOTOS BY CARROLL SMITH
rowing up, Jennifer James says she never thought she would be a farmer. James aspired to pursue a degree in accounting at the University of Arkansas and then attend law school. Her mind was made up. Her path was set. Little did she know that once fall arrived, her heart would ache for the flatlands of eastern Arkansas and the golden fields of rice. “I changed my major to ag business and never looked back,” James says. “My first job in agriculture was for Mr. Noal Lawhon, who had enough confidence to hire me for a summer internship to scout rice. I learned so much about rice production that summer that I was sold on farming.”
Jennifer James and her husband, Greg, reside in Newport, Arkansas.
Today, James — along with her husband, Greg, and her father, Marvin Hare — grow 6,000 acres of rice, soybeans and corn. She is involved on a daily basis with all aspects of the operation — H&J Land Co. — in Jackson County, Arkansas. “So many of my memories of rice farming revolve around struggles that we have survived and made us better,” James says. “Wet springs are always challenging, and 2019 was certainly the most memorable whether you have been farming five years or 50. Luckily, it’s the simple things on the farm that keep me going — the smell of freshly turned soil, the first field planted and the first load harvested, seeing the sun rise and set over the land my family has farmed for more than 100 years. The constant renewal and the fact we always get another chance provide motivation from year to year.”
Jarrod Hardke, the Arkansas rice Extension agronomist, has worked closely with James over the years and says, “She is an excellent grower with a great mind for farming and business. Jennifer and her family have a devotion to sustainability and conservation efforts on their farm.” Jackson County Extension agent Matthew Davis says James “is always on the search for anything her family farm can put into place to increase efficiency of the farming business and lowering input cost. Jennifer is a steward of the land and an advocate for sustainability.” Her love of agriculture and the rice industry also contributed to James expanding beyond the turnrow and grain bins to serving on various local, state and national committees and boards. Fellow Arkansas rice farmer Scott Matthews points out that in 2019 James was the first woman ever elected to the Riceland Foods board of directors. “Riceland is a 90-year-old rice co-op and the largest in the United States,” he says. “This is a pinnacle achievement for Jennifer in the rice industry.” James says she was encouraged by many of her peers to run for a seat in her district. “The Riceland position is a three-year term, and I feel an urgency to ask questions and learn all I can so that my votes will help make a difference for the future,” she says. “It’s not about me or my farm. It’s about what is best for the cooperative and the farmer members.” James has been described as an innovative rice grower, a tireless worker for the rice industry, the ultimate conservationist, a wife, mother and a friend. “I am humbled that anyone would nominate me for this award and then surprised that others agreed,” she says. “It is such an honor to be selected and add my name to so many who are my friends and mentors in this industry. I am blessed to have worked for 26 years beside my father and learned from his experience. I am blessed to be married to my love and my business partner and to work toward our shared life and dreams together. “I believe it is our obligation as farmers to speak loudly and often about the practices we employ on our farms to conserve our national resources and build habitat within our rice fields. We are producing more with less and working hard every day to continue to improve. “Obviously, we have to produce a high-yielding and high-quality crop. But from there, I think having a handle on your costs and having a marketing plan you stick to are keys to staying profitable.” It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Jennifer James as the 2019 Rice Farmer of the Year.
Jennifer Hare James Newport, Arkansas • • • • • • • • • • • •
B.S., Agriculture Business, University of Arkansas Partner, H&J Land Co. Chairman, USA Rice Sustainability Committee USA Rice Board of Directors – Ex Officio Member USA Rice Farmers Board of Directors Director, Riceland Foods Inc. Board Vice Chairman, Arkansas Rice Farmers Board Director, Merchants and Planters Bank Board, Newport, Arkansas Member, Federal Reserve Bank Ag Industry Council 1997 Rice Leadership Development Program Graduate 2017 Field to Market Farmer of the Year Married to husband, Greg. One son: Dylan James
Jim F. Cook RICE INDUSTRY AWARD
A
PHOTOS BY VICKY BOYD
love of agriculture and service to farmers come naturally to Jim Cook. Years ago, his grandfather, Paul, moved from a West Texas ranch and got into the seed business in Calexico, California. After serving in the Marines in World War II, his father, John, came home and started Valley Chemical Co., an Imperial Valley full-service ag retail business that also included farming operations. “Like most people in that community, most of my jobs were ag-related, either working for my dad or other farmers,” Cook says. “The way my dad lived his life was my inspiration, and I spent a lot of time with him learning about what he loved. The ag life was, and still is, very natural for me.”
Jim Cook enjoys working with the crew at Colusa County Farm Supply in Williams, California.
After graduating college in 1979, Cook began as a marketing representative for DuPont Agricultural Products. “I was adopted into the culture of the Northern California rice people, and many are my close friends to this day,” he says. Cook later was tapped as senior development representative for the company and introduced into rice research. “I learned a lot about off-target responses and establishing trials to verify the safety of new products coming into our rice market. I also learned a lot about working in the regulatory environment of California in label and research design. To this day, I have not changed my practices and conduct my own internal studies to defend our business and avoid making mistakes.” Cook’s attention to detail and conscientious approach to research and technology have not gone unnoticed during
his current employment at Colusa County Farm Supply in Williams, California. Jared Gross, who is a rice producer and a CCFS agronomist, describes Cook as “a research and development phenomenon who conducts trials in eight to 10 different agricultural crops per year. But for the past 20 years, rice has made up the bulk of his research.” Here are some examples: • Development of Cerano herbicide. • The launch of Butte herbicide. • Field trials of Roxy rice. • Weedy rice control. • Remote-control helicopter applications. “Jim’s two passions are research and helping people,” Gross says. “He is a tremendous resource, teammate and a major reason I went to work for Colusa County Farm Supply. Jim is an excellent mentor to young men and women starting their careers.” Kent McKenzie is the director and a plant breeder at the California Rice Experiment Station in Biggs. He says his association with Cook and knowledge of his dedication to getting agrochemical tools to rice growers has come in the past four years when Cook cooperated with him on a non-genetically modified herbicide-resistant rice project. He encouraged McKenzie, a “reluctant non-weed scientist,” to test it in the field under real-world conditions. “This is important for considering a product or technology for the commercial level,” McKenzie says. “Jim also has enthusiasm and optimism about giving something different a try and finding solutions to make it work. I also see him conveying that approach in communicating and mentoring to others. And he puts time into his work, even when it’s physically difficult in flooded rice fields. Jim doesn’t shrink from any of that. He gets things done when they need to be done.” Cook has an impressive list of accomplishments in his career, but he is quick to give credit to others. “There are hundreds of people who got me to where I am today,” he says. “Each one of them deserves a piece of this honor. Their mentoring, support and friendship are a collection of life’s treasures. “The support I receive from Colusa County Farm Supply is phenomenal. If I need something, I ask. If they need something, they ask. This includes all of our growers as well. Everyone looks out for each other.” In recognition of his enthusiasm and commitment to improving U.S. rice production, it is an honor to name Jim Cook as the recipient of the 2019 Rice Industry Award.
Jim F. Cook
Williams, California • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A.A., Sciences, Imperial Valley Junior College B.A., Biology, University of California, Los Angeles M.S., Pest Management, University of California, Riverside Director, Research and Technology, Colusa County Farm Supply Manager, Crop Production Research, John Taylor Fertilizers/ Wilbur-Ellis Co., 1995-2012 Senior Development Representative, DuPont Agricultural Products, 1988-1995 Marketing Representative, DuPont Agricultural Products, 19791998 Member, California Association of Pest Control Advisers Holds an active Pest Control Advisor License, Qualified Applicator Certificate and Qualified Applicator License CAPCA Outstanding Achievement Award, 1993 California Aircraft Association Outstanding Achievement Award, 1993 DuPont Agricultural Products Market Innovation Award, 1989 Married to wife, Kathleen Jan, “Kathy.” One daughter: Shelley Ann Maddox (husband, Eric). Two grandchildren: Tucker Prescott Maddox, 8, and Beckett Bradshaw Maddox, 4
Dr. Ford Baldwin RICE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
D
PHOTOS BY CARROLL SMITH
r. Ford Baldwin has had a close connection to Arkansas agriculture and a self-proclaimed affinity for equipment, especially tractors, from a young age. He describes his grandfather as “a small-time cotton farmer near Lonoke who also dabbled in rice a little.” His dad was a vocational agriculture teacher, so the family moved around some. Baldwin attended first through third grades in Delaplaine and fourth through ninth grades at Swifton. During his sophomore year, he landed in Des Arc, where mostly rice is grown, and graduated high school there. “During our first spring in Des Arc, my dad got me a job on the Devorak farm helping plant rice,” Baldwin says. “I wound up working weekends, nights and summers for Mr. Dale Devorak. He was a rough, gruff, very demanding perfectionist and a gentle giant with a heart of gold all rolled into one. I was scared to death of him but loved him like my dad and learned a lot about rice.”
Dr. Ford Baldwin and Tomilea — his wife and business partner — reside in Austin, Arkansas.
While attending the University of Arkansas, Baldwin knew he wanted to major in agriculture but couldn’t decide on his focus area. “I was just bumping along until I took Dr. Bob Frans’ weed control class my senior year, and then I was hooked,” he says. “He offered me an assistantship to get a master’s degree, and I jumped on it.” Baldwin went on to complete his doctorate in agronomy and weed science at Oklahoma State University. When the Extension weed science position opened up in Arkansas, Baldwin says his major professor at OSU helped him grad-
uate early to get the job. Working in this capacity in the No. 1 rice-producing state, Baldwin says the next logical step was to become a rice weed scientist. The two people who stand out to him in this endeavor are Arkansas Extension rice agronomist Bobby Huey and internationally renowned U. S. Department of Agriculture weed scientist Dr. Roy Smith. “Both of them ‘took the kid in’ and mentored me,” Baldwin says. The Arkansan says two noteworthy milestones in his rice research career are Command herbicide and the Clearfield Rice Production System. “When FMC first asked me to look at Command in rice, I thought we would kill the rice and turn the whole state white in the process,” Baldwin says. “Well, we didn’t kill the rice, didn’t turn the state white, figured out we could apply Command by air and the rest is history. But the biggest challenge we had in rice weed control was getting rid of weedy rice. It was the one thing that had eluded Dr. Smith in his career. Then the Clearfield Rice Production System came along and gave us that opportunity.” Jason Norsworthy, a University of Arkansas weed science professor, sums up Baldwin’s contribution both in the research plots and on farmers’ turnrows quite well. “His final rice accomplishment prior to leaving the university was assisting in the registration of Newpath and Beyond herbicides in Clearfield rice,” Norsworthy says. “Dr. Baldwin set up studies documenting the efficacy and value of these two herbicides and the Clearfield system for removing weedy rice from cultivated rice — a feat never seen before in the U.S. rice industry. “Since retiring from the University of Arkansas, Dr. Baldwin has helped rice growers across the state with any weed management issue that arises on their farms. During the spring and summer, rarely a day that goes by that he has not stepped foot into a rice field or taken five to 10 calls from rice farmers by noon.” Terry Gray, an Arkansas rice producer and owner of Delaplaine Seed Co., says, “Dr. Baldwin was instrumental in bringing new practices, chemicals and technologies to the market for the everyday farmer. He has had the foresight to look ahead to see problems that were coming in the future and create plans to deal with them. That foresight has paid great dividends to farmers in the Delta.” In recognition of his outstanding career accomplishments, tell-it-like-it-is approach and countless hours working for farmers, we are proud to name Dr. Ford Baldwin the recipient of the Rice Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Ford Baldwin Austin, Arkansas
• B.S., Agronomy-Crop Science, University of Arkansas • M.S., Agronomy-Weed Science, University of Arkansas • Ph.D., Agonomy-Weed Science, Oklahoma State University • Partner with spouse at Practical Weed Consultants LLC and Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas • Distinguished Extension Specialist, University of Arkansas, 1994-2002 • Extension Weed Scientist and Section Leader – Pest Management, University of Arkansas, 1979-1994 • Extension Weed Scientist, University of Arkansas, 1974-1979 • Fellowship in the Weed Science Society of America • Member, Southern Weed Science Society • Member, Rice Technical Working Group • Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame • Riceland Foods Friend of the Farmer • Progressive Farmer magazine Man of the Year in Arkansas Agriculture • Married to wife, Tomilea. Four children: Carrie, Jeff, Luke and Erin. Two stepchildren: Ty Dillon and Treva Dillon. Nine grandchildren
Horizon Ag would like to recognize past Rice Awards recipients. 1992 Dennis Leonards 1993 Jacko Garrett Jr. 1994 Nolen Canon 1995 Duane Gaither 1996 Leroy & Chris Isbell 1997 Charles Berry John Denison Paul Haidusek Errol Lounsberry Charley Mathews Jr. Patrick Mullen Fred Tanner 1998 Tommy Andrus Don Bransford Larry Devillier Jr. Dennis Robison Gary Sebree Linda Zaunbrecher 1999 Ken Collins James “Jimmy” Hoppe Charles Parker Johnson Abbott Myers Lowell George “L.G.” Raun Jr. Martin Walt Jr. 2000 John B. Alter R. Ernest Girouard Jr. Bill Griffith Ken Minton Michael Rue J.D. “Des” Woods 2001 Rice Farmer of the Year: Larry and Candice Davis Rice Industry Award: Jack William Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: David LaCour 2002 Rice Farmer of the Year: Tommy Ray Oliver Rice Industry Award: Howard Cormier Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Leland L. Carle 2003 Rice Farmer of the Year: David Monroe Smith Jr. Rice Industry Award: Dr. Johnny Saichuk Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Lundberg Brothers 2004 Rice Farmer of the Year: Dane Hebert Rice Industry Award: Dr. M.O. “Mo” Way Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Joseph Musick 2005 Rice Farmer of the Year: John Greer Rice Industry Award: Charles “Eddie” Eskew Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Donald Bransford
2006 Rice Farmer of the Year: Gibb Steele Rice Industry Award: Chuck Wilson Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: John Denison 2007 Rice Farmer of the Year: Clarence Berken Rice Industry Award: Dr. Joe Street Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Steve Linscombe 2008 Rice Farmer of the Year: Milton LaMalfa Rice Industry Award: John Cummings Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin Ahrent 2009 Rice Farmer of the Year: Curtis Berry Rice Industry Award: John E. Broussard Jr. Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Carl Wayne Brothers 2010 Rice Farmer of the Year: Greg, C.J. and Jeff Durand Rice Industry Award: Dr. Richard J. Norman Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Elaine T. Champagne 2011 Rice Farmer of the Year: Mark Wimpy Rice Industry Award: Dr. Rick Cartwright Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Jacko Garrett Jr. 2012 Rice Farmer of the Year: Jim Whitaker Rice Industry Award: Dr. Donald Groth Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Jim Erdman 2013 Rice Farmer of the Year: Joe Aguzzi Rice Industry Award: Dr. Eric Webster Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Elton Kennedy 2014 Rice Farmer of the Year: Fred Zaunbrecher Rice Industry Award: Dr. Kent McKenzie Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Marvin Baden 2015 Rice Farmer of the Year: Jerry Hoskyn Rice Industry Award: Keith Fontenot Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Jimmy Hoppe 2016 Rice Farmer of the Year: Richard Fontenot Rice Industry Award: Dr. Steve Linscombe Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Gary Sebree 2017 Rice Farmer of the Year: Christian Richard Rice Industry Award: Dr. Xueyan Sha
2019
RICE AWARDS
H
orizon Ag is honored to sponsor the Rice Farming magazine Rice Awards and to welcome the industry to Little Rock for the 2019 USA Rice Outlook Con-
ference. As I reflect on 2019, I am reminded that rice farmers have amazed me for over 20 years for their resilience. In any given year, most everything seems to be pressing against them. Pests (weeds, diseases and insects) are now the more easily controlled. Weather extremes, economics and politics are seemingly the most volatile and uncontrollable pests these days. With the poor harvest conditions in 2018 not letting up through planting season 2019, coupled with less profitable prices across all commodities, many farmers have been pressed beyond their limits. Yet we will gather again to discuss the paths forward with the hopes that 2020 will be more prosperous for the U.S. rice industry. With this year’s awards, we look forward to once again acknowledging individuals who have truly made a difference by their hard work, persistence and devotion. Those recognized for their outstanding achievements will receive: The Rice Industry Award, which honors the person who has proven to be innovative in his or her role in this industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes the person who has dedicated his or her life to the viability of the U.S. rice industry. The Rice Farmer of the Year Award, which is given to a farmer who has shown determination, innovation or dedication to growing the crop. The 2019 Rice Award winners can stand proudly with the award winners who have gone before them and, on behalf of Horizon Ag, we sincerely congratulate each one. Horizon Ag is proud to bring new solutions to combat the problems farmers can control, including new varieties that raise the bar for yield and quality potential, and new technology that enables farmers to improve productivity and profitability. We stand ready to help you make decisions that impact you today and into the future. We look forward to continue working with you, resilient, as we meet the challenges we face each year, emerging stronger. Tim Walker Horizon Ag General Manager
©2019 Horizon Ag, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Chuck Wilson 2018 Rice Farmer of the Year: Melvin “Skip” Hula Jr.
Rice Industry Award: Earl J. Garber Rice Lifetime Achievement Award: Marvin Hare Jr.