Have you ever driven the highways north of Sacramento and noticed the flooded fields on both sides of the road? This is a great, rice-growing region of California.
California produces 20% of the rice (Oryza) grown in the United States. (China, India and Indonesia are the top rice-producing countries.) Ninety five percent of California rice is grown in the Sacramento Valley. The soils in that region have high clay content, which reduces water infiltration. This makes it ideal for rice and less favorable for other crops.
Rice also needs a long, warm growing season.
Commercial rice growing began in Butte County in 1908. Now, more than 550,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley are planted in rice. These fields produce more 10,000 pounds of rice per acre.
— Katie Martin, UC Marin Master Gardener
