We did an agri-tourist trip to a rice farm in Chico, California. I learned about rice farming, which I will share, but the major takeaway was how unbearable this warming planet is going to get.
Other posts on rice I have written include: Five Ways to Cook Rice, Rice #1 Consumed Carb, and Rice.
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Rice Fields in California
California Rice History
The California rice industry started ~1849, during the California Gold Rush. Not because of the influx of American miners and gamblers seeking their fortunes, but due to the large Chinese immigrant labor force that also worked in those gold mines, and for the railroads. They obviously considered rice as a staple, and rice then had to be imported, predominantly from China. Given the land they first inhabited was so fertile, and water so readily available, American farmers and Chinese immigrant farmers, quickly realized they might find more success farming than wishing and digging for gold.
The Chinese started growing and selling their own rice until the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act passed in the USA Congress, in part to placate [white] worker demands and assuage concerns about maintaining white “racial purity” (1). That Act, supported by the Supreme Court and later state laws, blocked further Chinese immigration for 10 years, banned Chinese naturalization, and prevented Chinese from testifying in courts. This law essentially helped cause misery for families split between two countries, ended rights under law, and ruined independent Chinese entrepreneurs, including farmers (2). They could not fight in courts, so they were subject to having land and businesses taken away, and excluded from markets.
Meanwhile, American farmers found growing rice in the fertile Sacramento Delta, with its cool nights, was not easy, and it was not until ~1908 that farmers realized there were varieties better suited to this area, for instance, not using Chinese rice, but a variety of Japanese rice. In 1911, growing rice in the greater Sacramento area was beginning to take off (3).
Now there are 17 varieties grown in California. According to CALRice, predominant are Calrose, Koshihikari, and Akitakomachi, but include arborio, jasmine, basmati, and black and mahogany japonicas.
Why California
In 2019, California was the 2nd largest rice-producing state with >498,000 acres of rice planted on 1,100 farms. According to the USARice, the majority of California rice was grown in the Sacramento Valley.
- CapitolWeekly: Over 90% of the state’s rice is grown in the Sacramento Valley, the 165-mile-long lowland stretching through the state’s center, between Sacramento and Redding. Although rice is grown as far south as Fresno County, nine northern California counties contain most of the state’s rice farms: Tehama, Glenn, Colusa, Yolo west of the Sacramento River, and Butte, Yuba, Sutter, Placer, and Sacramento counties east of the River.
Weather-wise, this area has hot days and cool nights. As to the soil, it is clay and silt-loam, which tends to hold on to any moisture. All the conditions to create a perfect place to grow California’s distinctive japonica and other rice varieties.
- USARice: The sticky, moist characteristics of japonica varieties make them ideal for Mediterranean and Asian cuisines. In fact, California rice is highly prized all over the world—particularly in Asia and portions of the Middle East.
But these rice lands are used now for more than farming land. First, rice is a semi-aquatic grass, so the acres of land in which it grows are inundated with water during part of the rice growth cycle, which acts as wetlands we have all but destroyed. Second, these lands provide critical habitat for over 230 wildlife species.
Rice Lifecycle
Feb to May: Prep and planting time. This is the time farmers mold the fields to handle and naturally distribute the water around the fields. Then planting happens, these days often by airplane.
March to Aug: Growing time. After planting, the fields are flooded to retain an average of 2-4” during the quick growing season, which is a reduction from the amount of water farmers used to use. The rice plant grows quickly, taking ~120 days to reach 3-4’.
July to Nov: Harvest time. Once mature, water is drained from the fields, the rice is harvested by tractors, and then processed and bagged.
Nov to Feb: Environmental time. Once harvested, the fields are filled with water again and serve as a good habitat for wild life. Those animals, in turn, provide a healthy soil by fertilization, digging the soil and eating the remaining vegetation (weeds) and insects (pests). The water also drowns potential weeds and pests, so it helps reduce the need for pesticides.
Environment + Projections
The notes above do not mean rice is 100% environmentally friendly, for globally, rice production (or the microbes in flooded fields) accounts for ~8% of all methane emissions (4). In fact, ScientificAmerican states, when all greenhouse gas emissions from food are taken into account, rice emits more greenhouse gases per calorie than wheat or corn but less than fruits, vegetables, legumes, or any animal sources.
- As a side note, most writers indicate that rice grown in California is more likely to be organic, whereas rice grown in the Southern USA is not.
Projections seem to indicate rice production will increase in the near future. In fact, many analysts write that rice is more stable than wheat or corn (3).
But, CIGR also provides a caveat concerning a decade or so down the road, writing that prospects for future growth in rice production are uncertain as rice is susceptible to droughts and floods, plus climate change is expected to have a severe impact on the global rice sector by changing the patterns of droughts and floods and spreading more pests and diseases (5). Food security has also become more fragile since the COVID-19 pandemic, with major rice-exporting countries restricting exports for food security reasons in their own country.
Chico Rice
The Chico Rice brand grows, mills, and packages its rice products right there on the farm. The farmers of this brand of rice do not use GMO seeds, do not burn their fields post harvest (a major pollution point), and farm organically. Their specialty rice is Japonica, a short-grain variety of Japanese rice that is sticky.
Sometimes Japonica is called Sinica rice, and is one of the two major domestic varieties of Asian rice. Japonica varieties include sushi and risotto types of rice. Additionally, it is considered a healthier rice in that it is lower in calories than white rice, has a higher fiber content, and contains more vitamins and minerals (6, 7).
Our Trip in Volcanic Weather
We took that agri-tourism trip to Chico Rice, Red Bluff, and then Lassen National Forest. I learned about rice, and all of us, even the dogs, learned what the future will feel like on a hotter earth.
We drove northeast, and the first night we stayed at the Chico Rice farms. There were acres upon acres of dark green rice fields. Although the fields were partially wet land, they were surrounded by moats (see photo above).
Per usual, for Harvest Hosts, there was a little store there where they sold local honey, bags of organic brown and yellow rice, and home made dog cookies. So I bought the yellow rice and cooked it once we were home, but more on that later.
What we learned immediately, was how damn hot 110F really was. Chico normally has hot summers and cold winters, but this was unusually hot. Per usual we had our two dogs with us, and all four of us were melting from the heat even with the RV’s air conditioner running continuously. And we had actually prepped!
Heat Prepping
Before our trip my spouse noticed that it was going to be very hot. For us, that triggered concerns for the dogs and of course us as well. Especially since we were going to be without shore-power the first overnight stay at the rice farm.
Our RV had an air conditioner (AC), big enough to cool our space, which would be a good thing if quality shore-power was available. But Chico Rice did not offer utilities. However, we also had a gasoline-powered generator that could keep the AC running for a while. We also had two ceiling vent fans that run off the house batteries to help circulate the cooling air.
In terms of food, we had a three-way-powered fridge (generator, battery and propane) and freezer full of bags of ice, and various drinks, from lots of water to iced tea. So in some ways, I thought we were prepared. My spouse however, started to look up all the RV articles about keeping us and the dogs cool, and learned enough to provide some additional ideas, which in turn lead to ordering little things to help with the anticipated heat.
One obvious idea was to park in the shade, which we did. Specifically, our RVs front was facing North and had an external cover; the back faced South; the Fridge/Freezer intake vents facing West in the shade of the silos; and the house door facing East. Another obvious idea was to utilize the attached awning to provide shade. The side of the RV that has the house door also has an awning, but with the afternoon sun going down it did not provide much shade at all unfortunately. Awnings seem to work great mainly at the noon time period. And then we cut a large roll of reflectix to fit into our windows as a way to prevent heat penetration.
For the dogs we bought special cooling mats, where the pressure of their bodies should activate the chemicals in the mats to make the bedding coolish. But, also we put them in the freezer to cool down a bit before putting them on the ground. We also read to never go anywhere without water for the dogs, to make sure they stayed hydrated.
Additionally, we bought two battery 12-volt fans to help improve the cool air circulation and to assist with sweat evaporation. For us, we also bought personal fans that hung around our necks, and several cooling towels to wrap around our necks and heads, and to put cooling wet cloths on the dogs paws, belly and groin area.
My point here is to say our future world is getting hotter due to climate change, and look at how much we had to do, and pay attention to, for just one weekend of high heat.
The Fridge + Food
The US-FDA recommends that refrigerator temps should be at or below 40F, and your freezer temps at or below 32F. However, many consider the ideal fridge temp to be lower, between 35F and 38F. In any case, refrigeration in RVs, in hot weather especially, are an issue.
Even in the shade, with the fridge intake and exhaust vents facing shade, the temperature of 110F was just too much and our temps in both the freezer and fridge raised dramatically. Luckily, we had thermometers in both and could monitor, so if needed we could readjust the food, and move ice packs to the fridge. It was only later that I realized part of what prevented the freezer and fridge from cutting off cooling totally was that, at times, we were using the generator, rather than propane, as the generator creates a steadier and stronger electrical power.
We Wilted
All our efforts were still not enough. We monitored the dogs for excessive heat responses and they were at the point of panting like crazy and showing signs of discomfort. On our arrival I walked the dogs perhaps 5 minutes (with a hat on), and quickly became overheated, sprouted a heat rash, exhibited a very bright red sweaty face, and had to lay down.
All of us spent a lot of the time at Chico Rice, laying down half-naked trying to cool down. Then the evening got a bit cooler, enough that we could sleep with all the fans directly blowing on us. Now I know this was nothing like what other states have been dealing with, especially Arizona, but it was enough for me to promise we’d not do a trip here in the summer like this again, especially with dogs.
Top Thing to Beat Heat
The next day we did the absolutely first thing one does to beat heat, we drove to somewhere cooler. In this case, up in elevation, and into pine-covered woodlands near Lassen Volcanic National Park. The high that day was down to 94F, and then 87F the next day; evenings were even cooler, down into the low 80sF.
The next campsite had a breeze, showers, tree shade, and electricity. So we used their facilities and felt better, while the dogs felt better as well, given the slight breeze and lowered temps.
Future Climate
WAPO wrote, that according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, July of this year was the most scorching July on record, clocking in at somewhere between 1.5 and 1.6 Celsius hotter than the average before the widespread use of fossil fuels. This not only will change where people live and travel to, but will also change farming in significant ways.
UCDavis writes that over the next few decades we should expect that climate change will make the greater Sacramento area even hotter, drier and increasingly prone to extremes like mega-droughts, flooding and large wildfires. Rice is known as a crop most vulnerable to climate change and even though it originated in the tropics, it can be highly stressed by excessive heat.
The massive rains this past winter helped ease the water issues a bit, but it is only prolonging the inevitable. At some point in the future, rice may not be grown in California any more, for the water costs may become too high. Better is to grow it in areas with predictable monsoons, not in a desert which is what California is turning into (8). Further, Chico is already an area with high chances of devastating wildfires (9).
— Patty
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