Randy Rice is pictured in front of one of his large hay bales with his dogs Tana, an Australian Heeler, and Riley, an Australian Shepherd.
(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
By Bruce Rolfe
A Galesburg man who farms 500 acres of land and owns a crop transportation trucking company, is passionate about educating the public on the products he grows and delivers regularly.
Randy Rice, who owns Rice Farms LLC, is a fifth generation farmer at the Galesburg location. He grows corn, soy beans, wheat, rye, and a variety of alfalfa.
He formed 484 Trucking LLC, about two years and currently provides grain, hay, and straw trucking services.
Between his Galesburg farm, a location in Portage he rents, and some land in Richland he also farms, Rice raises crops on 500 acres of land.
The Galesburg man not only enjoys what he does, but being an advocate for agriculture and educating people about the crops he grows and transports regularly.
Rice was selected by Farm Bureau to be a part of the Leadership and Development Profile program working with politicians in Lansing and Washington, D.C. as an advocate for farming.
Rice also enjoys educating younger people as part of Michigan Farm Bureau’s promotion and education Project R.E.D (Rural Education Day), which gives students the opportunity to learn about agriculture in a field-trip setting with educational, hands-on stations.
The county driven program exposes younger kids to a farm environment, who aren’t used to being around a farm.
He simply calls his presentation, “give a hay about your hay.” Your hay is what you feed your animals.
“Being able to give your animals a good, quality product, in my opinion is very good thing to have,” said Rice.
The Michigan Farm Bureau Rural Education Day program allows younger people to understand what tractors and semis are. What different varieties of crops are grown on farms. What can be worked on a farm by animals. How sheep are shorn. Or how to maintain a horse.
“There’s a lot of stuff that happens on a farm from day to day. It makes it really nice to get these young minds out there and understand what happens on a farm that they might drive by and go, oh look, there’s a tractor. Now they can say, hey mom, that tractor, that’s mowing hay. Or look at that combine. He’s harvesting corn. They might not know what a combine does, but they get the general understanding of it. It’s really cool to spark the interest of all of these young minds on this,” explained Rice.
He enjoys talking about choosing large or small square bales or round hay bales. What should go into determining the size of the hay bales and how that choice will impact how the hay will fit inside a storage facility. He also reviews the importance for proper moisture content.
Rice said there’s a lot that goes into raising a good hay crop—more than just growing, harvesting and marketing the product.
He attempts to understand the customer’s needs and selling content in the hay based on what the customer uses the hay for, which he said requires consistent testing and monitoring.
Rice said he can have the hay sent out to be tested to determine protein contents.
He said a round hay bale could weight any where from 400 to 1500 pounds, but the average is about 1000 pounds. He adds a typical square hay bale would weight about 1000 pounds.
Rice also tries to educate young people the importance of road safety and being aware of agriculture equipment that use our roads regularly.
“People need to understand that if there’s flashing lights and there’s an orange triangle, that tractor is not going 60 miles an hour. That’s someone’s someone, that needs to go home at the end of the day. Somebody’s somebody that deserves to make it home safely at the end of the day,” said Rice, who said the equipment driver will typically attempt to give drivers behind them an opportunity to pass when an opportunity is available.
Born in Hammond, Indiana, Rice was an adopted child at three months old. He said he grew up on a farm in Galesburg, and quickly developed a passion for agriculture.
He not only credits his parents, Tom and Lynette Rice, but his grandparents, Dale and Mary Rice, for encouraging and supporting his passion for farming.
“Growing up on that pedal tractor, I knew at a young age, I wanted to stare at a hood. I wanted to be able to grow crops. I wanted to see what I’m doing with my hands. Work with my hands. It’s something that was built into my genes,” said Rice.
Rice, also a member of the Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Department for seven years and Portage Department of Public Safety Fire Division for three years, said there are many rewards to growing and selling agricultural products that help people.
“A lot of what I do in life, is helping others. I have always enjoyed helping others. From the medical side, to the farming side, to just the every day side. Being a good person in general, normally can help somebody else. It’s very rewarding to help others in all fashions,” said Rice, a 2010 graduate of G-A High School and 2013 graduate of University of Northwestern Ohio with an agricultural technical and diesel degrees.
“Being able to be on the front lines of watching our crops grow. Being able to work the ground. Fertilize the ground. Plant the ground. Watch the crops grow and then being able to harvest, it’s quite rewarding,” continued Rice.
A Galesburg man who farms 500 acres of land and owns a crop transportation trucking company, is passionate about educating the public on the products he grows and delivers regularly.
Randy Rice, who owns Rice Farms LLC, is a fifth generation farmer at the Galesburg location. He grows corn, soy beans, wheat, rye, and a variety of alfalfa.
He formed 484 Trucking LLC, about two years and currently provides grain, hay, and straw trucking services.
Between his Galesburg farm, a location in Portage he rents, and some land in Richland he also farms, Rice raises crops on 500 acres of land.
The Galesburg man not only enjoys what he does, but being an advocate for agriculture and educating people about the crops he grows and transports regularly.
Rice was selected by Farm Bureau to be a part of the Leadership and Development Profile program working with politicians in Lansing and Washington, D.C. as an advocate for farming.
Rice also enjoys educating younger people as part of Michigan Farm Bureau’s promotion and education Project R.E.D (Rural Education Day), which gives students the opportunity to learn about agriculture in a field-trip setting with educational, hands-on stations.
The county driven program exposes younger kids to a farm environment, who aren’t used to being around a farm.
He simply calls his presentation, “give a hay about your hay.” Your hay is what you feed your animals.
“Being able to give your animals a good, quality product, in my opinion is very good thing to have,” said Rice.
The Michigan Farm Bureau Rural Education Day program allows younger people to understand what tractors and semis are. What different varieties of crops are grown on farms. What can be worked on a farm by animals. How sheep are shorn. Or how to maintain a horse.
“There’s a lot of stuff that happens on a farm from day to day. It makes it really nice to get these young minds out there and understand what happens on a farm that they might drive by and go, oh look, there’s a tractor. Now they can say, hey mom, that tractor, that’s mowing hay. Or look at that combine. He’s harvesting corn. They might not know what a combine does, but they get the general understanding of it. It’s really cool to spark the interest of all of these young minds on this,” explained Rice.
He enjoys talking about choosing large or small square bales or round hay bales. What should go into determining the size of the hay bales and how that choice will impact how the hay will fit inside a storage facility. He also reviews the importance for proper moisture content.
Rice said there’s a lot that goes into raising a good hay crop—more than just growing, harvesting and marketing the product.
He attempts to understand the customer’s needs and selling content in the hay based on what the customer uses the hay for, which he said requires consistent testing and monitoring.
Rice said he can have the hay sent out to be tested to determine protein contents.
He said a round hay bale could weight any where from 400 to 1500 pounds, but the average is about 1000 pounds. He adds a typical square hay bale would weight about 1000 pounds.
Rice also tries to educate young people the importance of road safety and being aware of agriculture equipment that use our roads regularly.
“People need to understand that if there’s flashing lights and there’s an orange triangle, that tractor is not going 60 miles an hour. That’s someone’s someone, that needs to go home at the end of the day. Somebody’s somebody that deserves to make it home safely at the end of the day,” said Rice, who said the equipment driver will typically attempt to give drivers behind them an opportunity to pass when an opportunity is available.
Born in Hammond, Indiana, Rice was an adopted child at three months old. He said he grew up on a farm in Galesburg, and quickly developed a passion for agriculture.
He not only credits his parents, Tom and Lynette Rice, but his grandparents, Dale and Mary Rice, for encouraging and supporting his passion for farming.
“Growing up on that pedal tractor, I knew at a young age, I wanted to stare at a hood. I wanted to be able to grow crops. I wanted to see what I’m doing with my hands. Work with my hands. It’s something that was built into my genes,” said Rice.
Rice, also a member of the Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Department for seven years and Portage Department of Public Safety Fire Division for three years, said there are many rewards to growing and selling agricultural products that help people.
“A lot of what I do in life, is helping others. I have always enjoyed helping others. From the medical side, to the farming side, to just the every day side. Being a good person in general, normally can help somebody else. It’s very rewarding to help others in all fashions,” said Rice, a 2010 graduate of G-A High School and 2013 graduate of University of Northwestern Ohio with an agricultural technical and diesel degrees.
“Being able to be on the front lines of watching our crops grow. Being able to work the ground. Fertilize the ground. Plant the ground. Watch the crops grow and then being able to harvest, it’s quite rewarding,” continued Rice.
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