2022 was a bad year for rice harvesting in California, producing only half the usual amount
The Sacramento River Valley is one of the top producers of rice. Half of the crop is exported to Japan and Korea and much of the sushi rice eaten in the United States is grown here.
But according to the California Rice Commission, of the 500,000 acres normally produced, only 250,000 will be harvested this year.
"I stretched every drop as far as I could," said Kurt Richter with Richter Farms.
His crop is ready for harvest in a couple of weeks.
The California rice grower managed to squeak out about a quarter of what he normally yields.
"We knew coming into this year, we were in really bad shape because of lack of rainfall and lack of carry-over storage from previous years," Richter said.
When there's not a drought, Richter Farms grows 5,000 acres in Colusa County. This year, it managed 1,300.
Richter left one field dry without any plants or water to drench them.
"This ranch would normally be flooded from one end to the other with rice growing in each of the fields and this year it's pretty sparse," Richter said.
Richter keeps a meter on the ranch to monitor how much water he uses on his crops, water allocated from the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. He said a normal low year for him would be a 75% water supply. This year, for this part of the valley, it was an 18% water supply.
Bruce Linquist, a University of California-Davis rice extension specialist calls this third year of the drought "by far the worst year of the drought."
Linquist said the drought dilemma is having a trickle-down effect, from the growers to lost jobs for ag workers and supply transportation to sushi lovers. California produces the majority of the medium grain rice.
"I think the consumer is going to see it in higher rice prices," Linquist said.
Linquist said after harvest this month, farmers will start worrying again, wondering what winter will or won't bring.
"We need a really good winter, a more than average [of moisture] winter," Linquist said.
Richter said it's been rough.
"Here we are at the end. We will get this rice crop harvested and stored and hope the sky opens up," Richter said.
The latest drought report from UC Davis estimates the Sacramento River Valley region will lose $1.3 billion in economic impact, with California's rice industry facing more than $703 million in impacts and 14,300 ag workers out of a job.
Richter said he normally hires about 20 seasonal workers but didn't have any work for them this year. He was able to keep his eight full-time employees.
The rice commission is also concerned about wildlife that uses flooded and draining rice fields for habitat. Millions of waterfowl travel through the Pacific Flyway and land in the Sacramento River Valley fields.