Arkansas Family Grows Sake Rice

Arkansas Family Grows Sake Rice Sake is trending in the global alcohol beverage market, with year-over-year growth of more than 5%. Zero Grade Farms (aka Isbell Farms) in Arkansas is pouring on the fuel with their sake rice. The Isbell family has a reputation for busting markets open for Japanese rice, and sake rice is their latest. “We’re supplying sake brewers all over the world, from major Japanese and American brewers to craft brewers and even hobbyists,” says Whitney Isbell Jones. “In the early 2000s, we had a call from a sake maker with offices in Berkeley, Calif. They asked if we grew Yamada Nishiki, a rice variety they described as the king of sake. We weren’t actively growing it, but we had seed in cold storage.” The following week, company representatives visited the farm to sample the rice. They liked what they saw, and the Isbells began growing it for the company and, soon after, for others. It took about 10 years, but the market for sake and sake rice from Isbell Farms began booming. For Isbell Jones and her family, it was déjà vu. “In the 1990s, we were the only rice farm in the country growing Koshihikari, a Japanese rice used for sushi,” says Isbell Jones. “When the demand for sushi took off in the U.S., we were already famous for it in Japan.” Having either sake rice or sushi rice on an Arkansas farm was no accident. Isbell Jones’ father, Chris, started working with Japanese rice varieties in the late 1980s. That work stemmed from a search for a competitive edge in a commodity rice market, which began at a technical conference for rice researchers. “The other attendees were all PhDs, and he was the only farmer,” says Isbell Jones. “He asked a Japanese researcher what the best rice was in Japan. When he told him Koshihikari, my dad asked if he could grow it in Arkansas, but the researcher insisted it could only be grown in one region of Japan.” When Isbell went home, he discovered that the region was at the same latitude as his farm. He obtained the seed and grew it for several years. When he had a crop to sell, he found a list of Japanese trading companies and called one he recognized, Mitsubishi. “The man he spoke with refused to believe Dad had grown that variety of rice, so Dad called other companies on the list,” recalls Isbell Jones. “Nishimoto, a rice-trading company in Los Angeles, sent a man out to taste the rice. He said it was as good as that grown in Japan.” By 1996, the family was supplying rice for export to Japan. They had visitors arriving by bus, helicopter and limousine. That included a group of 20 Japanese consumers who had won a trip to the farm from their grocery store. “There was even a documentary film done on us,” says Isbell Jones. With proof that sushi rice could be grown in the U.S., California rice growers captured a large share of the market by the late 1990s. The Isbell family then began searching for other markets. “My dad believed that you have to create your own market,” says Isbell Jones. “He started looking at other Japanese rice varieties that had potential, using seed from the USDA germplasm center.” One variety stood out for its poor taste. Yamato Nishiki had a starchy finish and was tall and hard to grow. Isbell set it aside. Then came the call from the sake company. Soon, other brewers, including one in the U.S., were calling. Demand for Isbell’s sake rice continued to grow among Japanese and American sake makers. When COVID hit, Isbell Jones and her brother, Mark, began looking for ways to further expand demand. “We made up sample kits of three different sake rice varieties we grow and sent them to brewers around the world who might be interested in making sake,” says Isbell Jones. “We included a farm hat and information on our farm. People started to contact us.” Today, they grow half a dozen varieties of Japanese rice each year, with sake rice on about 20% of their acreage. The remaining acreage is devoted to conventional rice. “Sake is still a small segment of the global alcohol market,” says Isbell Jones. “However, it’s growing, and we think we’re on the cusp of that growth.” Isbell Jones credits the market breakthroughs to a family tradition of innovation. She notes that her grandfather introduced the concept of perfectly level fields in the 1950s, thus the name Zero Grade Farms. “My son, Harrison, is expanding our markets again by focusing on rice beer,” says Isbell Jones. “We have rice flour and broken rice as a byproduct of our sake rice milling. He has a local beer brewer using it, and others are trying it.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Isbell Farms, 732 Isbell Rd., England, Ark. 72046 (ph 501-275-3402; farm@isbellfarms.com; www.isbellfarms.com).

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