From Seed to Shelf A Rice Mill in Cattle Country r Ralston Family Farms grows and produces rice in the Arkansas River Valley, commonly known as cattle country. Tim and Robin Ralston, along with the rest of their family, have worked hard to make their dream of taking rice from seed to shelf a reality by building their own rice mill in their backyard. “For 99 percent of rice farmers, the elevator is where the product ends for them,” said Tim. “Most farmers don’t get to see the end result. We get to see what shelf it ends up on.” The Ralstons work hard to make sure their product ends up on popular shelves at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Costco, Albertsons, Amazon and Blue Apron. To provide for these companies, Ralston Family Farms grows and mills large amounts of rice, producing 12 million pounds of rice a year. That equates to about 20,000, 24-ounce cartons a day. However, not all of their rice ends up on grocery store shelves. Ralston Family Farms rice is sold into a farm to school program that covers multiple school districts. The Arkansas Farm to School program is part of a national initiative that encourages local farmers to sell their products into the local school cafeterias. Tim says rice is a great farm to school product because it is not perishable and is available yearround. Quantity is important when milling and selling rice, but really, quality is most important to the Ralstons. “Because of our size, our volume is pretty decent, but as far as rice mills go, we’re still pretty small,” said Tim. “We knew we had to get outside the box on what we were offering. We’re trying to create some difference between what we’re doing and general commodity rice.” The Ralstons grow numerous varieties of rice, but golden, basmati, jasmine and traditional are typical of most rice mills. The differential rice for the Raltsons is nature’s blend -- long, whole grain rice that is a combination of aromatic purple, red and brown rice. The rice has a nutty texture and is full of nutrients and antioxidants that white and brown rice alone do not have. Ralston Family Farms is one of few farms that grow the “We knew we had to get outside the box on what we were offering.” –Tim Ralston purple and red rice in any quantity. Tim and Robin decide what to plant based on feedback from retailers, customers’ input and the market. Ralston Family Farms is a true family business. Robin is the managing partner and owns the majority of the company, Tim manages the farming aspect, and all of their children are employed at the company as well. “The family wanted to come back to the farm, and we realized that farming the way we were was not sustainable. We had to add value,” said Robin. Thus, a rice mill was constructed
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