"Calif. Growers Fear Biotech Rice Threat"

[GreenPartyVoter]

PRINCETON, Calif. (AP) - Fourth-generation farmer Greg Massa was in the middle of the rice harvest and he was dirty, angry and depressed.

The price of the gasoline that powers his water pumps and rice harvester has never been more expensive. A late planting season, hot summer and rising expenses had ensured a less-than-stellar harvest, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasting a 13 percent drop compared to last year.

So the last thing Massa needed was a biotechnology blunder so disastrous that it prompted the rice industry's biggest export customer - Japan - to prohibit some varieties and threaten to ban all U.S. imports. The European Union is making similar threats because genetically engineered rice continues to turn up on grocery shelves in Europe.

"If that happens, the California industry will evaporate," said Massa as he drove the harvester around his farm about 80 miles north of Sacramento.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20061015/D8KP8OG00.html

[tularetom]

1. I have mixed feelings about this

The rice industry has long been a major polluter of the air in CA's central valley when they burn the stubble off their fields after the harvest. Also rice growers have long been sustained by a house of cards of price supports. On the other hand (and I know some of these folks) they are for the most part, family farmers that have managed to avoid takeover by corporate agribusiness and should be encouraged to continue to resist corporatization. In the old days they used to let us shoot pheasants in their fields after the harvests but they have begun to post their properties because of abuse, liability etc.

[TahitiNut]

2. Not to mention how much water they use in a state where water is precious.

At the same time, Japan must import the vast majority of two staple foods: rice and soy. We're their largest suppliers. I personally prefer the short-grain rice to the long-grain that most Americans consume. It's far tastier, imho. I'd hate to pay even higher prices or deal with GM varieties. I don't believe the short-grain is grown much in the US other than in California.

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Rice stubble burning is ancient history in the Sacramento valley

In 1992, the California state government restricted rice growers from burning their stubble in fall. Many Sacramento Valley farmers worked with state and county conservationists to flood their fields, creating wildlife habitat in fall and winter while their stubble biodegraded instead of going up in smoke. From a pilot project in 1993, the program grew to embrace about 137,000 acres during the 2002 to early 2003 growing season. Today, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the hunting and conservation group Ducks Unlimited share with farmers the cost of fall and winter field flooding. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Sacramento Valley farms replaced much of the area’s wetlands, which lie along the Pacific Flyway and are important to waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife. Today, the flooded-farm acreage augments key but scattered areas set aside as federal and state refuges. The birds are also helping the farmers. The collective trampling of thousands of webbed feet and nibbling bills make the valley’s waterfowl a formidable composting machine. According to a 2003 report by Ducks Unlimited, “Waterfowl use in post-harvest rice fields flooded for decomposition of waste rice straw has proven to enhance the decomposition process.”

All indications are that the program has proven a win win for both the growers and wildlife.