It costs on average approximately $800/acre ($324/ha) to produce rice in California. At this rate, yields must be at least 8500 lbs/acre (9520 kg/ha) in order for a grower to recover production costs. Making rice production profitable is complicated by the following:

• The cost of pesticides accounts for about 8% of total production costs.

• The Rice Straw Burning Reduction Act eliminates rice straw burning and requires growers to implement other, more costly means of residue removal. Click here for more on alternative straw management practices.
• The future of farm subsidies remains uncertain. The 1996 Farm Bill eliminates this source of income by 2003.
• Subsidies are considered by many to represent the profit gained from farming rice

• Subsidies in 1996 were $2.79 per 100 lb (45.4 kg) of paddy rice.

Market forces may offset changes in income, but reduction in input costs would contribute to maintaining profitability.

Back to Environmental Challenges | Next to Alternative Systems Back to Project Outline BIFS in Rice Homepage