Why is Arkansas #1 in rice?
Rice grows standing in water. Arkansas found a prairie with a floor of clay that keeps water from soaking away, and water pumped up from under the ground. Now farmers are learning to grow the same rice with less of that water.
Arkansas grows more rice than any other state. Check the ranking in the quiz below. It also sits at the top of USDA's published list for baitfish sales (the small fish sold to catch bigger fish). That story has its own Field Note, “The fishing state with no sea.”
Basis: USDA NASS Quick Stats, RICE - PRODUCTION, MEASURED IN CWT, 2024 annual crop survey. Baitfish: USDA NASS 2023 Census of Aquaculture, BAITFISH - SALES, MEASURED IN $ (some states' figures are withheld by USDA; see the baitfish quiz). The numbers, the full rankings and the sources are on the quiz pages.
Much of the story starts on the Grand Prairie, a flat stretch of eastern Arkansas that was once a large native grassland. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says that beneath the topsoil lies a deep layer of dense clay that water cannot penetrate (cannot soak through). Under that sat the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (a huge store of water underground), which at first seemed endless. So the land seemed ideal for crops that need flooding, like rice.
Who says so: Encyclopedia of Arkansas (Central Arkansas Library System) (opens in a new tab)
Before rice, the German immigrants who founded the town of Stuttgart in 1878 mostly raised cattle and cut hay. Slovak immigrants who came in the 1890s also mostly cut hay. Systematic rice farming in Arkansas began on the Grand Prairie in 1897, started by William H. Fuller. It proved not only possible but profitable, and most of the leftover native prairie was plowed for rice. Farmers drilled wells and pumped groundwater onto their fields.
Who says so: Encyclopedia of Arkansas (Central Arkansas Library System) (opens in a new tab)
The pumping had a cost. The encyclopedia says that by around 1916, farmers were likely pumping out more water than nature could put back. In the 1920s the drop in the aquifer had become obvious, and in 1931 the U.S. Geological Survey published findings linking the loss of groundwater to rice irrigation. Some farmers began pumping from a deeper aquifer, the Sparta Sands, which lies below.
Who says so: Encyclopedia of Arkansas (Central Arkansas Library System) (opens in a new tab)
The rice fields changed the sky, too. The mallard duck is now Arkansas's official state duck. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says that in the twentieth century, mallard numbers generally rose along with the habitat and feeding areas that came with the spread of rice fields on the Grand Prairie. Farmers tried lights and noisemakers to scare the ducks away, and by the middle of the century Arkansas was famous for duck hunting in its rice-field prairies.
Who says so: Encyclopedia of Arkansas (Central Arkansas Library System) (opens in a new tab)
One way to use less groundwater is called alternate wetting and drying (AWD). Instead of keeping the field flooded all season, the farmer floods it and then lets the water sink into the soil and dry away until the surface is muddy (or even drier), and then floods it again. University of Arkansas experts say that, when it is well managed, AWD can reduce irrigation use without lowering the harvest. It has risks too: if a field dries out too much, the grain yield or quality may drop.
Who says so: University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (opens in a new tab)
The plants themselves may change as well. Scientists at the USDA's Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas, point out that today's U.S. rice varieties were developed for fields that stay flooded. They say the aquifer's water level has been dropping for decades, and they are searching for rice traits that could help the crop cope with less water, so that new varieties might keep a good harvest with less irrigation.
Who says so: USDA Agricultural Research Service (opens in a new tab)
Note: a “theory”, “folklore” or “outlook” is not settled fact. Always check who is saying it.
📊 Sources for the rankings mentioned in this note (links to the original data and retrieval dates) are on each quiz page below.