DYERSBURG, Tenn. – In the United States, most rice is grown in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, California and Missouri, according to the University of Tennessee (UT). However, row crop producers in West Tennessee have begun adopting this small grain into their farm operations, gaining access to new international markets.

Schultz Family Farms in Dyersburg is now in its second year growing rice, thanks to support from UT Extension.

“We decided to expand financial opportunities by not necessarily adding acres, but by trying to diversify crops,” John Schultz said. “With corn and soybeans, we’re making record yields but still just breaking even. We couldn’t seem to find a window to make a good profit off normal crops within our current economic system.”

There is a lot of rice production just across the Mississippi River in Arkansas and Missouri, said Terrell Davis, county director of UT-Tennessee State University Extension. Tennessee has had rice production for about the last 10 years.

It is necessary to build levees and have an irrigation system for growing rice. Making rice patties involves a good-sized investment. While most row-crop acres can be adapted for rice cultivation, production is especially effective in Northwest Tennessee thanks to abundant underground water near the Mississippi and Obion Rivers.

“We have natural geographical advantages compared to inland regions of the state, as well as close proximity to well-established rice-producing communities in Arkansas,” Davis said. “However, rice is still a relatively new crop in Tennessee, so there are few mills or drying facilities on this side of the Mississippi River. But for many farmers, the benefits of participating in this global industry still outweigh the challenges.”

Rice is planted in the spring, around May, and then sometime in June, up to the 4th of July, it is flooded, Davis explained. Rice does need a lot of moisture, but it doesn’t have to have flooded fields to grow. Flooding is simply the best way to control weeds; it’s a crop management tool.

“Harvest is not that different from soybeans,” Davis said. “We will harvest our rice in October with a combine. They’ll break the levee and drain out the water back to the river.

“A limiting factor for rice acres is that it is the most expensive crop to grow. It is going to be twice as expensive to grow rice over corn. So, if you already have a market in corn and, as a farmer, you feel confident in growing corn, that’s where you’re staying. Rice has to go with those risk-takers, the innovative guys that want to try something else.”

Typically rice prices are much higher than the corn and beans although just like everything else there has been a decline in price, Davis said.

John Schultz, who farms with his dad, Carl, and cousins Joseph and William Schultz, admits that it takes thinking outside the box in how to make something work. It was “a snowball” of things that led them to rice production. In 2023, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture had a special grant period for larger grants. The Schultz family applied for and received a grant to build a rice mill in Dyer County.

“It’s not a huge mill, but they do have a drying bin,” Davis said. “They can store it and then they mill their own rice and package it under the name of Tennomo Rice.”

John Schultz spent seven years in Arkansas, which helped him learn about growing rice.

“But I figured out quickly that growing rice and just telling somebody what to do are totally different things,” he said. “I spent more hours last year than I would care to say on our first rice crop, just watching and tweaking things, learning how to manage the water. We just this past week put our rice crop to flood for this year and it went much smoother than last year.”

However, this spring, the weather did not cooperate. The family was able to plant only 120 of their 250 available rice acres.

“We had a day and a half to put that in,” said. “We struggled with that this year between floods and rain. Rice does like saturated soil, but you still have to have a good seedbed to get that put in right.”

Rice is grown from spring through fall when temperatures are warm and precipitation is plentiful. At harvest, the grain is removed from the stalk and dried to reduce moisture levels that could cause spoilage. Then, the milling process removes the outer husk to produce brown rice and the underlying bran layer to produce white rice. The USDA estimates that more than 40 percent of the United States’ total yield enters the international supply chain.

“We know market prices are always changing, so anytime you can diversify your farm, you’re better off. Tennessee might not ever be a top-producing rice state, but this commodity could open a lot of doors for farmers in these economically trying times,” Davis said.