California rice harvest impacted by drought
Another year of drought means another year of reduced harvest for California rice. Farmers slashed planting by 20% in the spring due to water shortages, which amounts to about 100,000 acres of idle rice fields. … Butler’s Sutter Basin Corp, in Robbins, cut production by 1,000 acres. The fallowed land was never planted, and the soil dried out in the sun. … Cal Rice spokesman Jim Morris said water issues have been among the challenges. He said cutbacks have impacts throughout the Sacramento Valley.