Family rice operation goes solar in a big way

Issue Date: August 20, 2008

By Bob Johnson

Family owned Far West Rice has met the challenge of energy uncertainty by installing the largest solar facility at any rice plant in the country at its processing plant in Butte County.

Family-owned Far West Rice has met the challenge of energy uncertainty by installing the largest solar facility at any rice plant in the country at its processing plant south of Chico.

The bold decision to put up an impressive bank of more than 5,500 solar panels on a four-acre piece of land between the processing facility and nearby rice fields is expected to improve long-term energy security and actually reduce costs.

"We wanted control over energy costs," said Greg Johnson, vice president of Far West Rice. Johnson's father, C. William Johnson, started Far West Rice in 1985 and was actively involved in the design of the plant 15 miles south of Chico in Nelson.

Far West produces Calrose medium grain and Japanese favorites Calhikari short grain and Koshihikari short grain.

In total the plant processes about 100 million pounds of rice a year, both under the Far West label and for other Sacramento Valley growers. The electrical demands for that operation are enormous, and the rising costs for that electricity served as a catalyst for the Johnsons to install their solar facility. Even taking full advantage of price breaks for operating during off-peak hours, the annual electric bill at Far West Rice had already reached the $200,000 to $240,000 range.

"Our goal is to be able to manage our electrical costs," said Chris Davis, general manager of Far West Rice.

The $6.5 million cost of the installation was partially offset by $1.8 million in solar rebates from Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

And while the solar installation could supply most of the power needed at the plant, Far West will save even more on energy costs by staying on the grid in order to buy low and sell high, Davis said.

The plant can continue to economize by operating as much as possible during off-peak hours, when energy from the grid is more plentiful and economical. That will make it possible to sell most of the solar power to the grid when electricity is scarce and prices are highest.

Far West has an agreement with Pacific Power Management LLC, the firm that designed, installed and financed the system. Pacific Power owns the solar complex but Far West has a long-term contract for power at guaranteed prices and an option to buy the system in the future.

The arrangement gives Far West what it needed most--price security in an age of energy uncertainty.

But Davis pointed to the additional obvious benefit, saying, "It's good for our community."

The solar facility will make a small but significant contribution to easing the energy crisis by putting a megawatt of new electrical power back into the grid.

"This produces enough electricity for about 260 homes," Johnson said.

Pacific Power Management estimates that this facility will equate to an annual reduction of more than 1.3 million pounds of CO2. That is the equivalent of planting more than 2,000 acres of trees or eliminating more than 20 million miles of automobile driving.

The four-acre battery of solar panels caps a 150-year family farming tradition of changing to meet new challenges.

The medium grain Calrose and the short grain Calhikari are produced for both the conventional and organic markets. More than 10 percent of all the rice processed at the Nelson plant is organic, according to Davis.

The Johnson family is descended from settlers who began scratching out a living from Sacramento Valley land back in the 1850s. C. William Johnson came from Sacramento Valley farm country to major in economics and minor in industrial engineering at Stanford in the 1950s.

He used his engineering background to help with the original designs of the Nelson rice processing plant. When he started the plant, Johnson was a Chico-area rice farmer looking to carve out a niche in the higher quality rice market for himself and other area rice farmers.

The Johnson family still owns 3,000 acres of rice land in the Sacramento Valley and leases most of it to area farmers. They also have a substantial natural beef business, with 1,000 head of cattle in Lassen County.

But the rice milling business is the most complicated and challenging of their enterprises.

"The rice milling business is entirely different from farming," said C. William Johnson. "There are a lot of quality issues to deal with; you need expertise in marketing; you need to know your costs. It's complicated."

(Bob Johnson is a reporter in Magalia. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@aol.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top