Local rice harvest going strong

Glenn and Colusa County rice growers are busy harvesting this week with cooperation from the weather and better prices than last year.

A few have actually completed their harvests like George Tibbitts of Arbuckle in southern Colusa County.

Tibbetts said Thursday he had been done for more than a week with his 700 acres of rice, but neighbors were still going.

“We got everything in early and everything out early,” Tibbitts said.

He said the yields were average or better this year, which is a pleasant surprise since many growers anticipated only an average crop.

Like most farmers, Tibbitts said he is worried about higher fuel costs, but he’s able to absorb them since rice prices are up. “My concern is the crop prices won’t stay high forever, but the fuel prices will,” he said.

The bottom line is good, Tibbitts said, but not as good as one might have expected if the expenses had been down.

Besides fuel, fertilizer costs have escalated, he said, since natural gas accounts for 80 to 90 percent of fertilizer production costs.

Tibbitts said he expects to plant about the same amount of rice next year, but he is not sure about increasing his rice acreage because of possible water shortages.

“I’m in an area where I can rotate in and out of rice,” he said. “If I knew the prices would hold, I’d plant more rice, but (lack of) water availability keeps me from increasing it. I’ll probably stay the same. Let’s hope for more rain and snow.”

In Glenn County, farmer Chris Johnson said overall things were going pretty well at his farm, which is half way through its harvest.

Some of his neighbors are already finished and the weather has been cooperative through September, he said.

The small amount of rain last weekend did not harm anything, and the first strong wind Thursday morning was the first significant wind this season, Johnson said.

His U.C. Johnson Farms are on the southern border of Glenn west of Interstate 5, he added.

Johnson had 560 acres of rice this year, and he admits higher fuel costs have been the biggest change since last year’s harvest.

The fuel prices doubled from 2007, he said, and despite a recent drop, most farmers had purchased their fuel before harvest began.

Despite the higher fuel costs, Johnson said he is “optimistic” about the prices for the 2008 rice crop.

The drought in Australia and harvest problems in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana from the hurricanes could benefit California rice growers, Johnson said.

Still, the crop is not yet fully in, he said, so he does not know what the prices will be after the crop has been dried and graded.

He warned commodities and hedge fund traders dropped the price of corn by selling their futures and putting pressure on the market, so rice might be affected by the world economic malaise.

There is more anxiety among farmers now because of these issues, Johnson said, but good yields and better prices should help them recoup their rice investments.

He added the harvest in Glenn County should be completed around Oct. 20, but high winds could knock down some fields and slow the harvest down on the west side of the county – especially if they reach the 40 mile per hour range.

Harvesting “lodged” or blown over rice slows down the process since the entire plant must be harvested, Johnson said, at half the speed of a regular harvest. This takes more fuel and creates more wear and tear on the combines.

Still, “So far, this has been an event free harvest season,” he said. “I hope it continues.”

Dan Kennedy is another Glenn County rice farmer whose harvest is in progress. He said 70 percent of his crop had been harvested, but another 30 percent is left.

Kennedy said growers are selling 100-pound sacks of rice for $22 to $25 a sack up significantly from previous years. Last year, they sold for $13 to $14 per sack.

He farms 500 acres in the Glenn and Artois areas plus has a partnership on another 170 acres of rice, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said Thursday morning’s wind was not hurting his crop, so he anticipated getting things done without problems.

He also is pleased with the price front for rice this year. “You usually don’t end up with a high yield and high prices at the same time,” he said.

California Rice Commission spokesman Jim Morris said the state’s 2,500 rice growers were generally doing well this year with yields average or better and the quality staying good.

The bulk of the crops come from the Sacramento Valley, Morris said, and most should be wrapping up harvest by the end of October.

He said the Cal-Rose medium-grain rice is the most popular seller in California and is used in sushi and Spanish dishes – although growers produce other varieties as well.

Morris added 40 percent of California’s rice crop is exported to Asia, and there is a strong market in the Middle East to countries like Jordan, the West Bank and Turkey, he said.

However, water conditions and droughts in the state could impact rice growers next year, he said, since less water could make it more difficult to grow rice.

Flooded rice fields provide habitat to 220 species of wildlife, and millions of birds flock to them during the fall and winter, he said, after the harvest is completed. Planting usually begins in March.

Morris said the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates California will harvest about 4 billion pounds of rice from 517,000 acres this year, down slightly from 2007. The estimated value for the 2007 crop was $583 million.