The Raun Family has been farming rice for more than 80 years on the fertile plains of the Texas Gulf Coast near El Campo. Lowell Raun, Jr. is in the third generation of this rice farming family. His grandfather, George Raun (seen above in a 1947 photo), moved to Texas from Nebraska in 1913. George Raun raised his first rice crop in 1915. His three sons - Russell, Norris, and Lowell, Sr. - followed his lead and became rice producers. Today the Raun brothers and many of their children and grandchildren continue the family tradition of growing rice on the same land in Wharton County. In 1989, Lowell, Jr. (L.G.) and his wife, Linda, were looking for a way to diversify their commercial farming operation. The idea to grow rice organically began after traveling to the Northwest and noticing the extensive use of organically grown products in restaurant and grocery stores. (Organically grown means to grow something without the use of commercial fertilizers or chemicals.) At the same time a new aromatic rice was released by the Rice Research Station in Beaumont, Texas. It was an interesting variety called Jasmine 85. (When you cook Jasmine 85 rice it has a natural nutty aroma and flavor) Lowell & Linda decided that organically producing and marketing Jasmine 85, under their own brand name, would be a unique way to diversify their operation.

Website: http://www.lowellfarms.com/