California’s rice industry generates more than a billion dollars every year. But the rice crop is benefiting nature in a very big way as well.
California’s rice industry not only provides food for people around the world but also habitat, breeding ground and food for some 230 species of wildlife.
Industry officials estimate that up to 12 million waterfowl make the Central Valley’s wetlands their home each year. It’s something that professional wildlife artist Steele Roberts-Ross sees when he goes to work. According to the California Rice Commission, the state’s ideal climate, water supply and innovative farming methods produce some of the highest rice yields in the world. And supports an abundance of wildlife in California’s rice fields.