California wild rice is a considerably smaller and newer industry in comparison to California's white rice industry.
However, California wild rice is a thriving industry!
However, California wild rice is a thriving industry!
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How California's Wild Rice Industry Began
California has been growing wild rice commercially since 1977, and can be attributed to Northern California's white rice farmer, Vince Vanderford.
In 1972, Vanderford attempted to grow wild rice seed that was brought to him from a friend in Minnesota, another state prominent for growing wild rice. Attempting to grow wild rice on an acre and a half, Vanderford yielded great results, and began a new industry in California. |
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By 1986, there were 50 farmers growing wild rice covering 15,760 acres in California. The California wild rice industry has grown substantially since its beginning. California wild rice is primarily grown in Northern California, specifically, the Sacramento Valley, the Clearlake region, and Northeastern California regions.
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What makes California great for growing wild rice?
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Northern California has a Mediterranean climate, which brings long, dry, and hot days and nights from April to October. The lack of rain allows for wild rice kernels to stay on the plant until harvest time.
Growing wild rice relies heavily on California's scarce resource - water. In order to create wild rice fields, also known as paddies, water from the high Sierra's flow into |
wild rice growing regions, including: Shasta, Lake, Modoc, Lassen, Butte, Colusa, Yuba, and Sutter counties. Water is controlled through California's dam systems and irrigation networks in order for farmers to control the amount of water and when water is applied to their paddies, as shallow as four inches, and as deep as four feet.
An additional factor that contributes to California's prominent wild rice industry is the lack of pest disease, where it's only main pests are blackbirds. Thanks to California's warm and dry climate, it proves difficult for pests to invade the wild rice crop. More, California wild rice needs to be reseeded annually to grow its new crop; therefore, the fields are worked and reduces the chance for pests to call the wild rice paddies home.
Information is credited to University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and can be found at https://ucanr.edu/sites/WildRice/files/256325.pdf