From the Fields: Jerry Maltby, Colusa County rancher, feedlot operator and rice farmer

By Jerry Maltby
Colusa County rancher, feedlot operator and rice farmer

We farm rice and alfalfa, and we have both commercial and purebred Charolais cattle and a feedlot. 

Right now, we’re trying to get the last of our rice planted, and it’s been tricky because of the rain. A lot of our county is very heavy clay soil, so we’re having to work the ground more than we’d like to. I think the water situation is going to be all right. It’ll come in, and that’s going to help us. It’s just another arrow in the quiver. 

With the feedlot, we are cleaning our pens and using the pen cleanings as fertilizer for our rice crop, alfalfa and pasture.

A USDA meat processing facility is going to be in Colusa. It’s probably over three-quarters done. We hope to see it in operation in June or July. I have a lot of cattle ready to go into that system, and it’ll be a real boom for the cattle industry because we didn’t have any USDA plants that were qualified to do larger numbers.

It’s a tough time for agriculture right now, but we seem to be our own worst enemy in the sense that we can’t stop producing more than we can sell. Until we start doing that, then we’re not going to really be very financially successful. 

If it wasn’t for the conventional, I probably wouldn’t raise any rice this year just because the contract price is you must make a hundred sacks, and I don’t think that a hundred sacks will make a break-even price this year. The world is overproduced in all the grains. 

We need to get into some conservation easements that we can rotate 25% of our ground out—not just grow another crop but fallow the ground. But it’s got to have some type of governmental support. 

In this edition…

• New school sawmill spurs logging interest
• H-2A rule change puts spotlight on work visa program
• Feedback needed to assess state veterinary shortage
•​​​​​​​ Nutrition program benefits growers and inmates alike
•​​​​​​​ From the Fields: Josh Barton, San Joaquin County walnut, almond and olive farmer
•​​​​​​​ From the Fields: Matt Stayer, Shasta County beekeeper and queen breeder
•​​​​​​​ From the Fields: Jerry Maltby, Colusa County rancher, feedlot operator and rice farmer
•​​​​​​​ From the Fields: Tiffany Holbrook, Sonoma County egg and poultry producer
•​​​​​​​ Growers use pressure bombs to fine-tune irrigation
•​​​​​​​ State targets sharpshooters from Costco grapevines
•​​​​​​​ Moth damage rises as growers await new insecticide
•​​​​​​​ Advocacy in Action: California Farm Bureau tackles labor, immigration and forest management
•​​​​​​​ Four farm safety priorities this National Safety Month