Columbia Grain To Host Agriculture Secretary Vilsack

Columbia Grain International and its subsidiary Enrich Foods will host United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the company’s Great River Milling production facility to highlight the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.

The new effort from the federal government is designed to create new revenue streams for farmers from their sustainable agricultural practices. Vilsack’s visit is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26.

“Nutritious and sustainably produced food should be accessible to all consumers, and farmers should be rewarded for caring for the land,” said Jeff Van Pevenage, CEO of Columbia Grain International. Traditional rice growing methods involve fully flooded rice paddies, which produce high levels of methane. But if farmers can control the water usage and still produce the same high-quality product, they can mitigate many of the negative effects.

The Climate-Friendly Certified by AgriCapture growing process is said to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60-95 percent, reduce water use by up to 33%, and soil health and promotes carbon sequestration

The first consumer products funded by USDA’s Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities are now available to U.S. households — Great River Milling Long Grain White Rice and Long Grain Brown Rice. Grown and produced in America’s heartland, climate-friendly rice represents a game-changing advance in sustainable farming—from funding to field to shelf to plate, company officials said.

The event will be livestreamed on Tuesday and feature remarks from Vilsack, U.S. rice farmers, and officials with Columbia Grain.