The annual Big Day of Giving (BDOG) is just around the corner on Thursday, May 2. The California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation appreciates being part of this great Sacramento area tradition, as our surrounding communities rally to support a variety of social and environmental causes.   We’ll utilize this year’s BDOG donations to continue to expand our habitat enhancement activities for migratory waterbirds and struggling salmon populations here in the Sacramento Valley. We work closely with the State of California and many non-governmental wildlife organizations to levera ..read more

Water Quality Monitoring Programs Begin April 30th   The water quality monitoring under the Rice Pesticide Program (RPP) and Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) will begin on April 30th.  The RPP monitors for thiobencarb for 10 consecutive weeks at 4 agricultural drain sites and one site in the Sacramento River near downtown Sacramento. The monitoring program for the WDR will commence in May at the same 4 agricultural drain sites. The WDR program monitors 2 selected pesticides and general water chemistry and includes pyrethroid and toxicity monitori ..read more

You can still submit them to the Rice Commission! The Rice Commission’s web portal for the online submission of the Farm Evaluation and Nitrogen Management Plan (FE/NMP) is still open at CalRiceNews.org by clicking here. If you have not yet completed them, please do so as soon as possible. It should take on average less than 30 minutes to complete. The Rice Commission has recently completed outreach to individual growers with incomplete or missing submissions.  Each plan will be submitted using the grower’s unique identification number from their permit at the County Agricultural Commiss ..read more

Look for registration to open soon. The California Rice Commission, UC Davis and the UC Cooperative Extension are hosting the 2024 Rice Quality Workshop on July 18th from 9:00 AM to 12:30PM.  The event will be held at Granzella’s Banquet Hall located at 457 7th St., Williams, CA.  The registration fee is $50/person and includes all instruction, a copy of the Rice Quality Handbook, coffee and lunch.  Registration is limited to the first 100 participants.  Industry experts will speak on various topics relating to key aspects of California rice quality. Look for information f ..read more

The Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program is still accepting applications for the Delayed Cereal Grain Harvest and Fallow Agriculture programs until end of day Wednesday, April 10. If you have winter planted cereal grains, winter planted cover crops or farm fields that will be left fallow this growing season, these programs could be a great fit for your operations. You must be willing to leave them undisturbed and or delay harvest until at least July 15th. Below are key details for each of the program. Delayed Grain Harvest Program Payment rate is $50/acre and there may be opportunities for ..read more

In January 2024, the CRC launched a new endeavor — targeted digital advertising. Below is a message from Steve Lerch with Story Arc Consulting on the impressive successes our campaign has accomplished in just the first few months. We are 88 days and 49 million impressions into the launch of our digital outreach program with Google Ads. In less than three months we’ve shown pro-rice industry ads 49 million times, our ads have been clicked more than 169,000 times, resulting in the busiest three months our website (CalRice.org) has ever seen. That translates to a more than 550% growth in we ..read more

Longtime industry leader Lorenzo Pope passed on March 25, 2024. Dr. Pope was known as a plant breeder and executive at Rice Researchers. He served for decades on the California Rice Commission Board of Directors and many of its committees, including the Rice Promotion Board. In 2015, the California Rice Research Board presented Dr. Pope with the California Rice Industry Award. Ever an educator to others and always willing to take a phone call, lend a hand or attend any rice meeting, Lorenzo will be remembered as a giant in our industry. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/c-pope-obituar ..read more

The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) is asking for help with an important study soon to be conducted, in an effort to improve the management of weedy rice.  UCCE most recently conducted this survey in 2019. A participation request letter for this latest survey has been mailed out to growers.  The survey has a few questions about rice management practices and should take roughly 15 minutes to complete. The survey itself will soon be available, in both paper and electronic formats. All answers will remain confidential and anonymous.  For questions about the s ..read more

CDFA reported that the referendum to continue the Commission for another five years passed with strong support.  Here are the stats: 100% of handlers who voted supported the continuation of the commission. 95.7% of the growers who voted supported the continuation of the commission. More than 69% of the handlers voted and 36% of the growers cast a ballot. These are high levels of participation for programs under CDFA.  The post CRC Referendum Passes with Strong Support first appeared on California Rice News ..read more

The Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with the California Waterfowl Association (CWA) is currently accepting applications for two nesting bird programs: Delayed Cereal Grain Harvest and Fallow Agriculture. If you have winter planted cereal grains, winter planted cover crops or farm fields that will be left fallow this growing season, these programs could be a great fit for your operations. Below are key details for each program. Delayed Grain Harvest Program This program provides an incentive to farmers that are willing to delay the harvest of their grain fields until at least ..read more