Rice Field Day: Growers get up close with industry-funded research - Chico Enterprise-Record
Biggs >> This summer has been rough for rice farmers with nearly 30 percent of the statewide rice acreage left to bare, open ground. Yet, cutbacks on water did not keep hundreds of rice farmers from attending the traditional summer get-together — Rice Field Day. Once a year, growers converge on the research farm, where scientists hand-plant more than 40 acres, keeping carefully cross-bred plants separate from other plants. Farmers pay a small amount per bag of harvested rice, and that money funds the experiment station and researchers. For the past several years, the California Rice Research Board has received funding from a tariff agreement with Colombia , Seth Fiack, chairman of the Rice Research Board, explained. Rice buyers bid for the right to buy California rice. The funding came just in time, and has been used to ensure the Biggs experiment station is fully-funded. The stations has a well, but that did not provide enough water to keep all of the research plants alive. Source: www.chicoer.com
