Rice is the biggest crop in Butte County. Much of the soil is a lava cap with almost no topsoil. It was only used for grazing until Japanese immigrants realized it was good for rice. They lost the land while they were interned. When I first came here, the rice burning was such that there was virtually no visibility. Since then, the rice burning is much more modest. One of the largest organic rice operations, Lundberg, is located here. They do not burn on their organic fields.
On Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 11:02:55AM -0800, Dan Scanlan wrote: > On Feb 10, 2008, at 10:39 AM, Jim Devine wrote: > > >do we really grow rice in California? (I may have reported this, but > >I'm not convinced it's true.) > > > Those of us who live in the Sierra foothills suffer the smoke from the > burning of the rice fields in the Sacramento Valley every summer. > > The Nation in general suffered the smoke of the California rice > industry in the 1960/70s when it helped urge along the war in Viet Nam > to destroy that region's competitive rice economy. > > Dan Scanlan -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com
