Ducks and Rice Are Staples in Stuttgart

Rice Industry Stands Tall in Stuttgart

In a town where some cars sport “Have a Rice Day” bumper stickers and grain silos dominate the skyline, it’s not surprising to hear Bill Reed say that rice “is why Stuttgart is here.”

Reed is a spokesman for Riceland Foods Inc., which is not only the biggest employer in town but also the biggest rice miller in the world. It employs 1,025 in Stuttgart. Two other millers employ another 500 or so.

“It’d be hard to come to Stuttgart and find a family that does not include at least one person who works in the rice industry,” says Reed.

W.E. Hope was the first farmer to grow rice in Stuttgart, on a 9-foot by 27-foot plot of land in 1901. Hope apparently had noticed the dense layer of clay that rests beneath the prairie topsoil. The hard clay was ideal for holding water. Rice grows best in flooded fields.

Arkansas harvests 41 percent of the nation’s rice, almost twice as much as No. 2 California (21 percent). Riceland alone is responsible for almost one-third of the U.S. crop.

Local farmers founded the Riceland cooperative in 1921 to get better prices. Today, 9,000 farmers belong. Forty of them sit on the board of directors.

The average Riceland farm is about 750 to 1,000 acres, Reed says. About one-third to one-half is devoted to rice, with the rest going to soybeans, one of the other crops Riceland processes. The number of rice farmers in the area is dwindling, Reed says, but the typical farm is getting bigger as technology improves and the agricultural industry looks for ways to cut costs.

“Labor is part of the issue,” Reed says. “There isn’t much available. Therefore, farm equipment is getting bigger and faster to make up the difference.’’

After farmers thresh their rice with combines, they deliver the crop to Riceland, which dries it, stores it, transports it, processes it, markets it and pays the farmers.

Riceland sells about $1 billion worth of product every year from Stuttgart, with the rice and oil products going out across the nation and to 75 cities abroad. The rice itself is packaged in bags ranging from four ounces to 2,000 pounds.

A few years ago, after the Bush administration lifted certain trade restrictions, Riceland began shipping rice to Cuba. Iraq is emerging again as a major market. Mexico, Haiti, Saudi Arabia and Europe also buy Riceland rice in bulk.

“About 95 percent of the rice that is grown in the world stays in that area,” Reed says. “China and India, for instance, are big rice producers. For us, though, the export market is very important.”

Ducks Mean Big Business

Hunters enjoy Wildlife Farms almost as much as the ducks do. Waterfowl head to Wildlife Farms every fall and hang out near the White River or on one of the many Wildlife lakes. Hunters pay $550 a day to bag a duck or goose. That price includes the guided hunt, a heated blind for duck hunting, plus lodging and meals.

Wildlife Farms is one of about 70 private and commercial duck clubs within an hour’s drive of Stuttgart. The duck clubs help prop up the economy in a part of the country that is struggling to gain new industry, says Jeff Collins, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. Club owners usually lease land from farmers during the fall and winter, Collins says.

“Duck hunting is a part of the social network in this part of the country,” Collins says. “Duck hunting is booming. It’s natural to think that duck clubs also are booming.”

Waiting lists can be long to join some private duck clubs, Collins says. He is 30th on a waiting list for a club that has just 20 or so members.

Sally and Dan Barnett established Wildlife Farms in 1992 just a few miles east of Stuttgart. The couple built a 12,000-square-foot lodge that overlooks Clear Lake. Sally Barnett runs the business day to day, while her husband continues to work as a stockbroker in Little Rock.

Wildlife Farms stays busy all year. Guests fish for bass, catfish and crappie in the summer. Spring is a popular time for company retreats and business meetings. Wildlife Farms added a 3,000-square-foot conference center in 2000 that can handle up to 120 people for day meetings and 66 people for overnight visits. The lodge also is a popular place for weddings, receptions and family gatherings.

Business booms in the fall and winter. Hunters come from as far away as the Philippines and Argentina to Wildlife Farms in quest of deer, turkey, pheasant, partridge, but most of all, duck. By mid-September, rooms at the lodge are full. They stay that way until mid-February.