by Kim Souza (ksouza@talkbusiness.net)
Dustin Faulkner, a third-generation Arkansas farmer, is part of an aggressive plan by the world’s largest retailer to save billions of gallons of water in rice farming.
Faulkner lives south of Jonesboro in Harrisburg, where he oversees 26 Ditch Farm Partnership with his wife Kristy and teenage daughters Alyson and Abby. The family farms around 3,500 acres, with about one-third of that being rice he sells to Walmart. He also sells rice and wheat to beer maker Anheuser-Busch while improving sustainable farming practices.
He said running a regenerative farm is important because the land and its resources must be preserved for future generations. He was introduced to Walmart by third-party sustainability partner Indigo Ag, whose mission is to connect farmers to higher-valued markets while using sustainability practices.
Dustin Faulkner walks his 3,500-acre farm in Harrisburg just south of Jonesboro inspecting the growth of rice that will be sold to Walmart for its Great Value Long Grain brand. Faulkner has been selling rice to Walmart since 2021 and is one of several farms in the region taking part in sustainable farm practices.