Rooted: The Tibbitts Farming Company's Journey Across Generations (Pt. 4)

Part 4 of 4

This special episode series features Colusa County rice farmers George and Carson Tibbitts discussing the multi-generational history of their family farm, and how Carson is now taking on more responsibilities as a junior partner while learning from his father's decades of farming experience.

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Mention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is the law. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:01

I'm in all California meeting room. That's what I grow. That's what I eat. That's what I love.

SPEAKER_02: 0:11

Hello and welcome to Thoughts on Rice, a podcast hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension Rice Advisors. I'm one of your hosts, Sarah Marcianich, and I'm a rice farm advisor for Colusa and Yolo counties.

SPEAKER_00: 0:26

I'm Whitney Brimda-Forest. I'm the Cooperative Extension Rice Advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Placer, and Sacramento counties.

SPEAKER_01: 0:33

My name is Luis Espino. I'm the Rice Farming Systems Advisor for Butte and Glynn counties. I'm Michelle Leinfelder-Miles. I'm a farm advisor in the Delta region. I work on all sorts of field crops, grains and forages, but one of those is rice. And the counties that I cover are San Joaquin, Sacramento, Yolo-Solano, and Contra Costa counties.

SPEAKER_02: 0:58

Together, the UCCE Rice Farm Advisors seek to provide relevant topical research fact information relating to California rice production.

UNKNOWN: 1:06

Music

SPEAKER_02: 1:13

Welcome back to the final installment of our grower series featuring Tibbets Farming Company. Our previous episode, part three, covered some of the research projects that the Tibbets Farming Company collaborates with UCCE and UC Davis Research on, as well as some of their views on the future of rice farming in California. This final episode will detail the Tibbets membership in Farmers Rice Cooperative and Cal-Almaco, as well as their opinions on the benefits of belonging to cooperatives and participating in the California Rice Commission. We'll also wrap up with some words of wisdom from both Carson and George. Now, I want to just commend you here for a second, George. Although my audio listeners can't hear this, George is currently wearing a Farmers Rice Cooperative hat, which is the perfect segue to my next question, which is what is Farmers Rice Cooperative and what do they do?

SPEAKER_04: 2:43

He was certainly on the board. I think he was founding chair of the board. My dad told me, my dad's not a farmer, but he told me, he said, yeah, when my grandparents wanted to join the other cooperative that existed at the time called RGA, Rice Growers Association, they wouldn't let him in. And he wanted to be part of a marketing organization. So they founded a competing cooperative, Farmers Rice Cooperative. As far as I know, for as long as FRC has been around, which is over 80 years now, all All the rice from this farm has gone to FRC. I'm on the board. Jim Irvin was on the board. And I always thought that would be cool to be part of it. And he lived long enough to see me get elected to the board. I was very pleased to be given that opportunity. I've enjoyed every minute of it, even though there were some hard years for a while. Our co-op was not first. We all compare each other, the other marketing organizations. It's kind of a competition. And we were, We were lagging behind, but in recent years, we've been first or tied for the first with others. We're doing well, and the cooperative is doing very well, and I'm glad to be part of that. I'm on another cooperative board as of recently. We have my first board meeting next week, Calamco. I was looking in the safe last year and found my grandfather's original stock certificate from being part of that new co-op that was founded in the It's a supply cooperative. In essence, those of us who buy anhydrous ammonia or products derived from anhydrous ammonia, such as aqua ammonia and other nitrogen products, we get a rebate at the end of the year if you're a member of this cooperative. And it's been a great return on investment. I don't know why more people aren't members of CalAMCO because the stock has paid for itself many, many times over the years. I'm a member of a co-op because I like the fact that all the members of the cooperative have taken together. We're not competing against each other to sell our rice crop. We're all owners of the co-op and we all benefit the same. Some other marketing organizations have a different strategy. We compete. But the fact that rice farmers are competing with other rice farmers to sell rice means we take it down for everybody and chase the bottom. I wish we all colluded, to be honest with you. That's capitalism, and I'm a capitalist, so that's the way it's going to work. But the existence of the co-op is good for the entire industry. I will say that. It works to keep the other organizations honest. I will say that.

SPEAKER_02: 5:30

And would you say, because it's a cooperative, because it's a collective group of people, there's a lot more strength to the voice of the people who belong to FRC when it comes to creating markets for the is that accurate

SPEAKER_04: 5:45

creating markets i don't know that we're creating markets we're chasing them but the fact that we're a large cooperative i mean that's not large enough to dominate but it's large enough to satisfy many customers at the same time and during covid it was it was very special to be part of the cooperative because we could supply customers like costco during covid There was a run on rice for a while because many people have to have it and were buying all they could because they were fearful of losing it. So just keeping Costco supplied, FRC could handle that. And not every other marketing organization in California can do that. So that was kind of a fringe benefit of being part of the cooperative. Particularly after we acquired Permi, another marketing organization that helped us be more competitive with our competitors. And I think the future is bright. I hope we celebrate our 100th anniversary in 19 years, I think it

SPEAKER_02: 6:51

is. I'm looking at the numbers on your hat right now because it says 80 years, 1944 to 2024. So there you go. You've got it. Bang on, George. Now, Carson, I wanted to ask you, I understand you're a member of a, you're an alternate on a committee for the California Rice Commission. Can you explain a bit about that role?

SPEAKER_04: 7:10

I don't really have much of a role. I I'm serving on a couple of committees for the Budget and Finance and the Research and Tech committees for the Rice Commission. But I'm doing this more for my own knowledge, like how my dad served as a member of Farm Bureau, established a network, and also learned a lot about the ad industry. I am learning a lot about rice in California, the legalities that occur due to regulations. and keeping ourselves honest. The Calgary Rice Commission helps keep the government off farmers' backs in terms of pesticides a lot. We didn't have a voice speaking together, we would have lost Thaya Benkert. Yes. That's a tribute to the Rice Commission. Tim Johnson is a good team there, particularly Alberta Feverett. She was a treasurer, and she's kind of semi-retired, but heavy good people like that working on your behalf. But anyways, yes, I'm more there because I want the knowledge that comes from being surrounded by people in the industry at different areas. I'm pleased to see Carson serving on the Rice Commission because he's just a young kid. No, but you're the next generation. And there's tremendous leaders on that board right now, but they're going to slowly evolve off over time. And I hope when you go to these meetings, you're just trying to take in everything you can, because at some point you're going to have to, If you're still on the board, start putting your years of accumulating all that knowledge and information and experience together and contribute. I mean, I've been on the FRC board for 12 years maybe, I'm just guessing. Gosh, for the first several, I'm just learning my way. I try and ask a question, at least one, every board meeting. Sometimes they're dumb questions when I think back. That just keeps me awake in a board meeting, just picking up questions to ask. To become an old, experienced board member, you've got to start off as a new and experienced board member. That's where Carson is now on the Rice Commission, and I hope as time goes on, you'll find ways to contribute.

SPEAKER_02: 9:43

Well, I think that actually brings me to a bit of a wrap-up here, because I wanted to to get more of a personal perspective from both of you, because as we all know, we kind of touched on this, but there can sometimes be a loss of the family farm between generations. And so to see a multi-generation family farm in existence is honestly kind of a rarity. So I wanted to ask for your perspectives. And starting off with you, Carson, did you always plan to come back to the farm?

SPEAKER_04: 10:16

So my dad touched on this in the very beginning of the talk about how in high school I seem to take more and to add. But the truth is, I always did envision becoming a farmer. I just was not as motivated when I was younger. Do the hard work like pulling weeds in the field. And so, yes, I was a stubborn kid. I had all three of my kids one day spend a few hours with a hoe in a sunflower field. And I still hear about the child abuse. Yes, it was a very hard life I had lived. But no, I truthfully, growing up, I was brought up to the farm on the weekends, but I only goofed around on the weekends up here. It was only in high school where I got to really appreciate agriculture and start to understand what is involved in the industry and the complexities of it. Through my high school and my college career, My goal was to end up as a rice farmer, working for the farm, dealing with the family politics. I'm very fortunate to be where I am today.

SPEAKER_02: 11:37

Following up on that, do you have any advice for the next generation of young farmers who are returning to the farm or looking to return to the farm?

SPEAKER_04: 11:44

I know it's scary, the idea of having so much uncertainty in the industry. And there's so much gambling involved in agriculture based on climate, based on price. But it's worth it. It's beautiful most days when the wind and the rain aren't kicking your ass. I would say get in while you're young and while your body works and while you can learn the knowledge that the previous generation has. Because as I mentioned before, driving around with our PCA, Todd Miller, he has already told me a lot of information and stories of different scenarios that the challenges that you have to ask the previous generation for advice for. My advice is go talk to your farm advisor. They're experts.

SPEAKER_02: 12:49

Please note, George is not being paid to say this. Okay, but George, let's actually get back to you. Advice for farmers whose offspring may be returning to the farm. Do you have anything to offer here? Because I know that can also be kind of a turbulent time. I

SPEAKER_04: 13:05

think every farmer hopes to have his son come take over the farm. Yes, there's a lot of women in farming now. I would have been totally fine if my daughter had wanted to come to the farm. I remember talking, I've told Carson this story many times. Your mom and I, we had two kids, and she said, no more. Because we had them first two back to back. But then after four or five years, I said, you know, I was worried. I wonder if our two kids don't want to go into farming. Because Nancy was all about agriculture. She didn't grow up on a farm, but she was all about farming. So I talked Nancy into having one more kid just in case we needed a third chance to have one of them want to go into farming. And lo and behold, there he is sitting here today.

SPEAKER_02: 13:56

That sounds like everything worked out right then. It worked out the way it was supposed to.

SPEAKER_04: 14:00

Yes. That was the plan, of course. You were conceived to be a farmer. Yeah, I was brainwashed the whole time. Nancy and I chose... I mean, you raise your kids. A lot of kids that grew up on a farm can't wait to escape. Sarah, you grew up on a farm.

SPEAKER_02: 14:20

I did, yep.

SPEAKER_04: 14:21

Did you want to escape?

SPEAKER_02: 14:23

Well, seeing as how I went to school 2,000 miles away, I think we can figure out the answer to that.

SPEAKER_04: 14:29

Yes, but you studied agriculture. Did you have a grand design to come here? The interviewee is interviewing the interviewer. But did you have a grand design to come back and be a farm advisor in California?

SPEAKER_02: 14:43

Once I started thinking about a career, being a pharma advisor was kind of always the goal. And I decided when I was in school that I'd choose, that would be the path I would aim towards. And if something else diverted me, that'd be okay, but I'd go for that path. But similar to what you said earlier, I have two younger siblings and one of them went to school for economics and is now employed in a non-ag job. And one of them is about, he's going to finish a degree in engineering next year. and where he'll end up we don't know I mean I think there's a lot of variability and uncertainty in these things

SPEAKER_04: 15:21

Nancy and I, when we bought that house in Davis with that lucky timing we had, we were deciding where to buy the house. It was clear that Nancy was going to continue her career on campus. And we were farming for our very first year, but we felt the mistake that would continue. So where do we live? Davis or Woodland? Because houses were cheaper. Or Arbuckle? So one of us would be community. So we're so aware of how often kids raised on the farm want to escape it or work too hard. So that factored heavily in our decision. We consciously made a decision not to raise our kids on the farm. Kind of regretfully so because we think that's a a great way to raise kids on the farm, teaching them about responsibilities and chores and things like that. But we decided Nancy was going to work on campus. Let's live in Davis so she wouldn't have to commute. I would commute up to the farm. It's not so bad. It's 40 minutes for me from Davis up to the farm. No traffic. Although Wi-Fi is getting busier and busier. But it's not like going to Sacramento. I mean, when I was working for Farm Bureau, I was commuting to Sacramento for six or eight years. But the traffic in the 80s and 90s was nothing like it is today. I would be going crazy if I were trying to commute to Sacramento every day. So anyway, I was a long way of saying we made a decision not to raise them on the farm and make them hate it. So they had to come. They had a chance to. be interested in farming and come to it, but they made that choice. I think if we made that choice for them, they would have rejected it.

SPEAKER_02: 17:13

Yeah, and I think we've seen evidence of that, especially in this area. There's a shrinking triangle of people who were once in ag or in ag families and are leaving.

SPEAKER_04: 17:25

It's going to get worse and worse. And it's not just the United States. It's everywhere. In Japan, there's a big rice shortage right now. And from what little I understand about it, part of the problem is The younger generation doesn't want to go work on the farms because it's hard work. And just a general shrinking population. We're not shrinking, but no replacement population. Yeah. Times change. We're living through change.

SPEAKER_02: 17:51

We're living through change, but I'm going to harken back to Carson's optimism again, and hopefully there'll be some good things as well along the future. With that, folks, I think we're going to close out, but I have one more question for you both, and it's a real toughie. What's your favorite rice to eat and why?

SPEAKER_04: 18:10

Well, I was raised on medium grain, and to me, it has the best texture. Specifically, FRC's Nishiki rice. It has the highest quality I've tasted, and it a lot of times is used in sushi. Just tasting great with most, if not all, of my meals. I can't stand long grain rice. I think most of the world prefers long grain rice, but it's what you're brought up with. Of course, we're brought up eating medium grain rice. Japanese eat medium grain rice. Koreans eat medium grain rice. Northern China, I believe, eats medium grain rice and certain other cultures. For the most part, by far, the world eats long grain rice. I don't like it because it's dry and separate on your plate. I like my rice a little sticky. And Carson mentioned the Shiki, which is basically a blend of various medium grain rices like M401 and a few others. I've had pure M401 before. It's really, really sticky. It might be too sticky. But for the most part, day to day, we eat Calrose, Diamond G, M209 or M211, whatever they're putting in the bag that day. It's all, I mean, all California medium grain. That's what I grow oh, that's what I eat, what I love. I eat it several times a week.

SPEAKER_02: 19:40

I'm not saying there's a correct answer to that question, but I feel like you both just gave a correct answer. California rice growers eat California rice. Well, with that, I really want to just once again, thank you both so much for taking the time to be here. Just as a note for my listeners, these guys took time out of their workday to come here and tell their story. So I'm very, very appreciative of that. But thanks again, Carson and George. And I guess we'll see you back out in the field.

SPEAKER_04: 20:06

It was a pleasure. Thank you, Sarah. Very much enjoyed having you here to hear our story.

SPEAKER_02: 20:29

This concludes this installment of the Tibbetts Farming Company story. And again, so many thanks to Carson and George Tibbetts for sitting down with me and sharing this their stories. For more information about this and our other resources, please feel free to check out our website, which is the UC Rice Agronomy website, and our blog, which is UC Rice Blog. We also have newsletters, one of which is Rice Brief, which covers Caloosayolo, Rice Notes, which covers Yuba Sutter, Rice Leaf, which covers Butte and Glen, and Field Notes, which covers rice in the Thanks for listening to Thoughts on Rice, a University of California Cooperative Extension podcast from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. You can find out more about this podcast on our website, thoughtsonrice.buzzsprout.com. We'd love to hear from you, whether it's from using our text link in the show notes, a survey submission in our feedback form, also in the show notes, or in a comment or rating on your podcast streaming service of choice. Let's have a good And remember, like the growers like to say, have a rice life. Mention of an agrochemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is the law. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general purposes only. The University of California name and all forms and abbreviations are the proper And its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. This final episode will detail the Tibbets membership in Farmers' Rice Cooperative and Cal-Almaco, as well as their opinions on the benefits of belonging to cooperatives and participating in the California Rice Commission. We'll also wrap up with some words of wisdom from both Carson and George.