The California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation, which hosts the annual California Rice Field Day at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, has decided to cancel the event this year in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes the annual business meeting that is held as part of the field day.
Historically, the California Rice Field Day has been held the last Wednesday of August.
In a letter to the industry, experiment station director Kent McKenzie expressed the foundation board’s regret in making the decision.
“We have continued all operations as ‘essential agriculture,’ taking reasonable steps for the safety of our employees, cooperators and those we engage with in our business and research activities,” he wrote. “The attendance numbers, individual proximity, restrictions, logistics, and current health and safety concerns as we come out of the COVID-19 shutdown prohibit holding this large event.”
Instead, the board and cooperating researchers plan to communicate and report to the research station’s grower-owners and industry later this summer as harvest nears.
The foundation plans to hold the Rice Field Day again in August 2021.