Estados Unidos 95988, California, Willows, 6101 State Hwy 162
This enterprise was launched in 1996 by longtime rice farming and agriculturalists Jim, Phyllis & Suzy Boyd and Jerry Uhland. The two families had been seeking alternative uses for rice straw soon after the State of California mandated the phasing out of field-burning,beginning in 1991. Currently, the most common practice of straw disposal is to initiate a decomposition process by flooding rice fields after the annual harvest. This practice uses a large volume of incremental amounts of precious water.After years of extensive agrifiber research and privately funded development, the company was awarded a U.S. process patent (2003) for the conversion of rice straw to industrial grade MDF. The Willows, California, plant will be the first MDF facility of its kind in the world.