U.S. rice producers say they plan to plant 2.84 million acres this season, up 12% from the previous year’s planting intentions of 2.54 million acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service’s recently released planting intentions report. That compares to 2.946 million acres planted in 2018.
The bulk of the acres — 2.1 million — will be devoted to long-grain varieties. That’s an 18% increase from the 1.77 million acres of long grain wanted in 2019 but still less than the 2.198 million acres planted in 2018. Farmers say the plan to plant 706,000 acres of medium grain and 41,000 acres of short grain and sweet rice.
The acreage estimates in this report are based primarily on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March. The March effort is a probability survey that includes a sample of approximately 80,000 farm operators selected from a list of producers that ensures all operations in the United States have a chance to be selected.
Data from operators was collected by mail, internet, telephone, or personal interview to obtain information on crop acreage intentions for the 2020 crop year, according to the USDA.
View the complete report at the USDA NASS.