Field of Dreams

IT STARTED WITH A FATHER'S WISH FOR HIS DAUGHTERS TO TAKE OVER THE FARM. TODAY, THE WOMEN RUN ONE OF THE LARGEST FAMILY-OWNED RICE-PRODUCING COMPANIES IN THE REGION

- PATRICIA S. YORK

 

Elton Kennedy came from a family of ministers in rural northeast Louisiana, but he always wanted to be a farmer. When given the chance to lease land with an option to buy in the town of Mer Rouge, he turned to the plow. He farmed his first rice crop in 1969, and over the years, his bulk-rice companies, Kennedy Rice Dryers and Kennedy Rice Mill, grew to include an average of 60 growers per year working over 15,000 acres. But to him, it was a family business all along. "I always thought that I would have a son to take over one day," Elton says. "As it turned out, having four daughters worked out just the same."

While building his business, he raised those daughters: Patchez, Felicity, Chantel, and Meryl. They spent their childhoods making regular "check on the farm" visitsor, as Felicity remembers, "times when Dad would share all kinds of knowledge, either farming related or just general life lessons." Chantel explains, "When we were growing up, our father always referred to his work as the family business and said it was up to us to carry on." The sisters had other plans, and their dreams didn't necessarily include working the land. In fact, they all went off to school and started their adult lives elsewhere.

The pull home, however, was stronger than they'd thought. After graduating from college, youngest sister Meryl planned to study abroad and struck a deal with her dad. If she agreed to work on the farm for a summer, he would pay for graduate school. As it turned out, studying overseas didn't happen-and neither did graduate school. “I think he knew that if he got me back to the farm, I would fall in love with the business," says Meryl. "It was the best deal of my life."