A Southeast Missouri State University graduate is driving global growth from right here in his home region, turning a family farm idea into a thriving agribusiness.
Sam Schneider, a 2014 agribusiness graduate, is the owner of Inland Cape Rice Company, a family-founded business in Scott City, Missouri, that farms, mills and packages high-quality, U.S.-grown rice. What began as a small idea to add value to his family’s farm has helped drive the regional economy and expand Missouri’s agricultural footprint worldwide.
“When we first started, it was just an experiment,” Schneider said. “We thought we’d mill a few bags of rice as Christmas gifts or sell to local restaurants for fun. But once I started digging into what it really takes to mill rice, I realized there was a much bigger opportunity to bring that process home.”
That experiment turned into Inland Cape Rice Company, officially launched in 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were launching on Amazon right as the pandemic hit, and rice suddenly became one of those staple foods people wanted to keep stocked,” said Schneider. “That early demand helped us take the next step to build our own processing and packaging facility here in Scott City.”
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The company’s modern rice mill became fully operational in 2022. Today, Inland Cape Rice works with 20 to 30 local producers in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois while shipping products to customers throughout the U.S., South America and Asia.
Inland Cape’s growth has also created local jobs and unique opportunities for SEMO graduates. Schneider’s plant manager, Ben Ray, also a SEMO agriculture graduate, now oversees rice milling operations at the mill.
“I never thought of agriculture as a career, I just grew up around it and loved it. I knew it was for me,” said Ray. “SEMO opened my eyes to how broad the industry really is. I started to see how many directions you can take in this field. The faculty are incredibly supportive, and they really push you to get involved. If you take advantage of every opportunity, doors will open that you didn’t even know were there.”
Schneider echoes that advice, emphasizing that agriculture today offers more career paths than ever before, and success often comes from saying “yes” to new challenges.
“Hiring SEMO grads makes sense to us,” Schneider said. “They come out of the agriculture program with hands-on experience and the work ethic this industry demands. You can teach technical skills, but you can’t teach grit, and that’s something SEMO students bring.”
Schneider says Southeast Missouri’s location in one of the most diverse agricultural regions in the country helped prepare him for the challenges of entrepreneurship. The company is now developing a rice flour mill to serve ingredients for gluten-free food manufacturers, pet food producers and specialty food markets.
Inland Cape Rice Company is proof that innovation, education and strong roots can turn a local idea into a global success story.
At SEMO, real-world experience grows bold futures. See where agriculture can take you at semo.edu/agriculture. To learn more about Inland Cape Rice Company, visit inlandcaperice.com.