| Harvested Rice Field |
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| Thursday, 20 March 2008 10:30 |
 Water use per acre by California rice growers has dropped 65 percent in
the last 20 years
due to improvements in technology and new farming practices and a
significant portion of
water used is returned to our streams and rivers. When the California
rice crop is
harvested, 400 pounds per acre is left in the fields. This leftover
rice serves as
an important food sources for millions of ducks, geese, pheasants and
other wildlife. The practice of winter flooding in rice fields is a
proven method for decomposing
rice straw so that it can be returned to the soil. Flooded fields also
serve as
seasonal wetlands for migratory waterfowl. When winter rice field
storage water is
released during the spring, the flow of the Sacramento River can be
maintained to prevent
salinity in the Delta, and more storage can be retained in the Shasta,
Trinity, Oroville
and Folsom dams.
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What, exactly, is "corporate agriculture"? Is it a large, faceless entity with little regard for people or the environment? Not likely. Click Here or listen to the radio to meet one of California's "corporate" farmers.
Meet Kevin and Allison Hurd and learn how their family farm represents the thousands of "corporate" farms that make up the backbone of California agriculture.