September is Arkansas Rice Month, and instead of me spouting off fun facts for you that you could easily find on Google, I invited Jenna Martin – actual Arkansas rice farmer – to share her insight about rice farming! Some of you may remember Jenna from her feature on Female Farmer Friday. I also have been dying for an excuse to share Jenna’s photography on the blog. The way she captures farm life is amazing. I plan to build a gallery wall of her photos one day!

Jenna – thanks so much for tackling the project for me during harvest! I know it’s a busy time of year!

•SB

Arkansas is well known for its diverse agriculture, from corn, sweet potatoes, to cotton and numerous specialty crops, but rice holds a special place in the Natural State.

September is Rice Month

September is proclaimed as National Rice Month, with an average of 1.3 million acres (AR Farm Bureau) produced primarily in the eastern part of the state. It is no wonder why the rice community has their own celebration month.

Jenna’s rice story

My family and I farm in Cross, Woodruff and Jackson County where we primarily raise rice along with corn and soybeans. Growing up as a rice farmers daughter has always been a good life. Everybody knows that farm kids are molded by the life lessons that farm life teaches them. After graduating from Arkansas State University in the spring of 2019, I decided to try farming full time with 460 acres this year and intend to expand next year. There is never a time when I am not learning. My dad, who has been a rice farmer since he was a teenager, tells me that he never quits learning.

Growing up on a rice farm is tough work, but rewarding. I remember walking through the fields with dad in the summer evenings checking levee gates and playing in the well water.

In 2013, I participated in the Miss Cross County Rice and Miss Arkansas Rice program and was able to promote rice along with a rice dish. I greatly enjoy and reminisce about the places I visited and people I met during my time. The program is still ongoing, but has revamped and is now the “Rice Reps” and incorporates social media usage as a platform for reaching a variety and larger number of people.

What’s the big deal about rice in Arkansas?

So, why is rice so important in Arkansas? Why should you care? There are 49,346 farms in Arkansas with 2,752 of those being rice farms. Within those farms are farm families whose livelihood depends on this cash crop. It’s amazing that less than 6% of the total farms in the state produce more than half of the nation’s rice.

Rice is grown in six states

Rice is produced in six different states: Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Texas. The production practices are a little different across the six rice states. I’m anxious to travel in the future and see first hand the differences.

1. Arkansas’ rice production is primarily in the eastern part of the state and is grown in 40 of the 75 counties. Something that sets rice, and Arkansas, apart is the need for irrigation. Because of soil and climate, many crops in the Delta have to be watered throughout the year if the rains are sparse. Farmers have pushed themselves to look to cost efficient and pocket book efficient methods of irrigation. Just look at this infographic:
   
2. California’s Sacramento Valley reigns as the hub of rice production for the Golden State with 95% of the farms established here. In 2019, Arkansas grew around 160,000 acres of medium grain (12% of total rice acreage) and approximately 1,140,000 acres of long grain ( 88% of total rice acreage). California excels in medium grain varieties, which accounts for around 70% of its acres, but they are also well known for its short grain rice which is primarily raised for sushi.
3. The third largest rice state, Louisiana, generates around $200 million in revenue due from the production and processing.
4. The southeastern part of Missouri’s Bootheel holds historical roots in agriculture dating back to 1910 when George Begley Jr. began planting rice. Missouri farmers produce around 150,000 acres of rice crops per year.
5. Cheap land, modernized milling techniques and western immigration influenced the upper coastal area of Texas as a diamond in the rough for rice production. The Texas rice industry was boosted when Japanese rice seed was introduced around 1904, and now, long grain varieties are the main selection for growers.
6. Good ole Mississippi comes in as the 6th largest rice production state. A local cotton farmer is credited for being the catalyst of rice production in the 1940s.

In short, the heart of rice country includes:
● Arkansas Grand Prairie;
● Mississippi Delta, (parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and
Louisiana);
● Gulf Coast (Texas and Southwest Louisiana); and
● Sacramento Valley of California
(Source)

Rice Farming: Start to Finish

Irrigation: Levees or Furrow?

Growing with the farming industry made me realize the continuing need for manual labor, even with evolving technology. Now rice production requires one main thing: water. Since rice is a form of grass, it has to remain in water, which is applied by wells or reservoirs. The water is controlled by levees, which follow the contour of the field, and levee gates manage how much water flows through each paddy that lies between the levees. Over time, producers may choose to get their fields precision leveled so the levees will run straight and parallel. This ensures an equal flood across the field, shorter time pumping, lower pumping costs, and enables producers to use programs that can help with the water management.

Oh, and something else that is gaining popularity around the Midsouth is furrow irrigated rice. There were 1.1 million acres harvested last year in Arkansas (46 percent of the nation’s total production), with 100,000 of those acres consisting of furrow irrigation (source.) That number was much smaller five years ago, and acreage is expected to have grown more this year. The flatter the field, the better for farming rice, but for producers with fields on a slope or hillside, they may now opt for furrow irrigation versus levees because it eliminates levees completely. The steeper the hill, the more levees that are required since the ground isn’t flat.

Starting Harvest

We are currently just fixing to start rice harvest on our operation. We are very fortunate to only have a little rice blown down from Hurricane Laura, unlike some.

Wishing everyone an abundant and safe harvest this year. Year 2020 has been one unique year for sure.