Growing rice in Australia

Who grows rice?

There are about 1600 farm businesses growing rice in the Murrumbidgee Valley of NSW and the Murray Valley of NSW and Victoria. The average size of an Australian rice farm is around 400 hectares.

Not just any farmer can grow rice

Australia farmers must meet stringent regulations in order to be allowed to grow rice. These policies seek to provide an even distribution of water over the landscape and balance hydraulic pressure on the water table.

In the Murrumbidgee Valley, rice is grown on no more than one-third of each farm. In the Murray Valley, there is a total hydraulic load limit of 4 megalitres per hectare averaged over the entire farm.

Rice is only grown on approved heavy, clay soil that minimises seepage into water tables. Soil tests must show more than three metres of heavy, continuous clay to allow for unrestricted rice growing.

No rice crop grows within 150 metres of a watercourse.

Rice is the only agricultural crop to be subject to rigorous restrictions relating to industry targets for water usage. The limits are set by irrigation companies and should those levels be exceeded, the farmer must attend an interview with the company. It can result in restrictions on the use of individual paddocks for the following year, or the banning of rice production in those paddocks.

Irrigation companies conduct careful monitoring of drainage water entering drainage schemes, to ensure it meets environmental standards.

Farm planning

Once a farm has been approved for rice production, many farmers opt to design a whole farm plan to assist in the management of natural resources and determine suitable crop rotations.

 Laser levelling technology is often used to prepare the rice ground, ensuring water is distributed evenly and can be easily applied and removed. Rice is grown in bays which are surrounded by soil banks, creating a large, flat ‘bathtub’ effect.

Growing season

Rice is a summer cereal crop in the Riverina, with planting in October. Farmers can use various methods to dry sow rice, with water applied after sowing, or crops can be aerial sown using pre-germinated seed into bays already containing water.

Crops are grown in 5 – 25cm of water, depending on the plant’s growth stage, which provides moisture for the plant and protects it from fluctuations in temperature. Using water to insulate the plant from cold overnight temperatures during January is particularly important for yield. High temperatures and the addition of nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers will improve growth.

In the early stages the rice bays are treated with a chemical application; this prevents damage by pests and weeds. Without this treatment, crop losses would be extensive. In the last 100 days, the rice plant has no chemical applications so it is virtually chemical free when harvested.

Large grain harvesters mechanically harvest rice in Autumn. As the grain begins to mature, the farmers 'lock up' the water on the bays. This means no water leaves the paddock; it is fully utilised by the rice plant. The soil then dries out in time for harvest to commence.

Once harvested, the rice is commonly named paddy rice. This is the name given to unmilled rice with its protective husk in place.

More crop per drop

Once Australian rice growers harvest their rice, they use the subsoil moisture remaining in the soil to plant another crop; either a wheat crop or pasture for animals. This form of rotation is the most efficient in natural resource and agricultural terms.

Temperate varieties suit our climate

Our climate and heavy soils are uniquely suited to growing medium grain rice - a niche variety produced by only a handful of countries. Medium grain rice is not suited to tropical climates, but the Riverina’s dry hot summer provides ideal growing conditions.