2025 Farmer of the Year
Rhett Turner is a fifth-generation Chambers County rice farmer.
He spent his childhood in a tractor with his father, Leslie, and grandfather, Ed. His maternal grandfather, John Tunze, a WWII B-25 pilot, was one of the first crop dusters in Chambers County, founding Coastal Air Ag with his friend, Buster Penick.
At 8-years-old Rhett was driving tractors on his own. He covered soybeans with a small tractor and cyclone fence drag. In return, his grandpa, dad and Uncle Jimmy planted 50 acres of soybeans in his name and paid all the expenses. Rhett earned enough to buy a horse and four-wheeler. The four-wheeler was stolen not long after, but he had the horse for 23 years and got two colts out of her, including Bobbie, the best horse he has ever had.
In 1993 Rhett graduated from Anahuac High School and began farming full-time. He also started college that year and put himself through school with his farm profits. He graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Ag Mechanization.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Rhett farms Middleton land in the fertile forks for Oyster Bayou. “A farm family is more than your traditional family tree,” Rhett said. “Generational farm relationships strengthen the agricultural industry as much as passed-down growing experiences. I am grateful for our continued relationship with the Middleton family.”
Rhett has grown many varieties of rice, both organic and conventional, as well as seed rice, soybeans and sorghum. “I farmed organic for a little bit and learned a lot about rice growing in those years,” Rhett said.
Rhett serves on the boards of the Texas Rice Research Foundation and Texas Rice Producers. “The science of rice farming has evolved so much since my Grampy’s days. I think it is important to be part of that progress,” he said. “Keep what works, but don’t be afraid of trying new things.”
Rhett has weathered market highs and lows, disease, bugs, hogs and at least five hurricanes. In his 12th year of farming, he had a contract on Milagro Rice, which is a 150-170 day maturity variety. The extra 30 days were just enough time to impact that crop. Hurricane Rita blew ashore as he was harvesting the first 100 acres of beautiful rice. When the skies cleared, the ground was golden with shattered rice.
“Rita pushed me into the valve-repair business,” Rhett laughs. “Like many other farmers, a second job has allowed me to stay in the business.” That year he took a job with Great Western Valve and was part of building it up from a small valve shop to the multi-million-dollar company it is today.
Rhett is the son of Leslie and Lynn Dell Turner. In 2008, Rhett married Amy Hill. They have two daughters, Marlow and Tess, and live in Double Bayou. In addition to being a farmer, he also runs cattle in Chambers County.
“The worst part of farming is finding out the crop that was so beautiful in the field didn’t produce the yield you expected,” Rhett said. “But the best part of rice farming is when you take an ugly field and push it to turn a profit.”
