Rice is the staple food of more than half of the world’s population. Yet a global supply shortage this year has caused prices to surge, and sparked fears of drastic food shortages in the world’s poorest nations.
Supply problems have been exacerbated by many of the world’s major rice producers restricting exports, amid fears of home shortages.
The on-going drought in New South Wales has further restricted world supplies, with farmers estimating that this year’s harvest will only total about 18,000 tonnes of rice.
InvestorTV speaks to Les Gordon, President of the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia about the situation at home and overseas
“In a normal year we produce between 1 and 1.2 million tonnes of rice of which 85 per cent is exported,” says Mr Gordon.
“Compared to a normal rice growing year it’s abysmal. It is our lowest rice growing year for probably 60 or 70 or 80 years, no-body really knows,” Mr Gordon continues. “And it’s probably back into the 1920’s since we had a harvest this small. I believe those few people who were luck enough to have a crop have had pretty fair yields; pretty reasonable yields, so that part wasn’t the problem, it’s just because of the drought, no-one’s got a crop of rice this year.”
With the drought in Australia’s major rice growing region, the Riverina in New South Wales now in it’s 5th season, it is no longer just the primary producers who are suffering.
“It’s as bad as anybody’s certainly seen it in living history,” says Mr Gordon. “There have been retrenchments at rice mills. Most farmers that would normally employ some staff, either on a casual or full-time basis, are back to pretty much bare bones. Businesses in town would have to be feeling it.
“I was in my local town last week, in a business; a tyre business, and normally you’re in a queue in that place,” Mr Gordon says. “I was in there for about an hour and I think there was about one other customer who came in the whole time I was there. So there’s got to be at least something of a flow-on effect happening. But certainly if the drought goes on…I think we’re on the cusp of really fundamental changes at the moment.”
Many of Australia’s rice farmers are running out of ways to try and beat the seemingly never-ending drought. Les Gordon says that even though the land is potentially suitable for other crops, they too have failed to produce a harvest on the parched soil.
“There’s potential to grow winter cereal crops, but even that failed, or essentially failed, last year, once again because of the drought,” Mr Gordon says. “People are carrying more livestock but that’s becoming increasingly difficult. We managed to carry livestock through last year on failed cereal crops (but) it’s looking pretty bleak right now.
Les Gordon says that options for the rice farmers are getting increasingly limited.
“I guess there’s a number of scenarios; one is if a lot more places go on the market, and people…sell and go,” says Mr Gordon. “(Or) people may just walk away and come back when it rains, and go and try and earn income another way, it they’ve got the wherewithal to do that. Each individual business and each individual family will all react differently.”
If the rains finally come this autumn and winter, it will be too late to affect the global rice short-fall in the near term, but in Australia at least it could help to salvage a once thriving $800 million industry.
“The only glimmer of hope on the horizon is that rice is an extraordinarily good crop to grow under the Australian system,” says Mr Gordon. “We have a good climate and good soils and when we’ve got good water we can produce a lot of rice really quickly.
“And being an annual crop we don’t have a lag time,” Mr Gordon continues. “We can plant in October as we normally do, and we’re harvesting rice by the end of March effectively.
“We can produce a lot of food really, really quickly…we just need the rainfall.”
The on-going drought in New South Wales has further restricted world supplies, with farmers estimating that this year’s harvest will only total about 18,000 tonnes of rice.
InvestorTV speaks to Les Gordon, President of the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia about the situation at home and overseas
“In a normal year we produce between 1 and 1.2 million tonnes of rice of which 85 per cent is exported,” says Mr Gordon.
“Compared to a normal rice growing year it’s abysmal. It is our lowest rice growing year for probably 60 or 70 or 80 years, no-body really knows,” Mr Gordon continues. “And it’s probably back into the 1920’s since we had a harvest this small. I believe those few people who were luck enough to have a crop have had pretty fair yields; pretty reasonable yields, so that part wasn’t the problem, it’s just because of the drought, no-one’s got a crop of rice this year.”
With the drought in Australia’s major rice growing region, the Riverina in New South Wales now in it’s 5th season, it is no longer just the primary producers who are suffering.
“It’s as bad as anybody’s certainly seen it in living history,” says Mr Gordon. “There have been retrenchments at rice mills. Most farmers that would normally employ some staff, either on a casual or full-time basis, are back to pretty much bare bones. Businesses in town would have to be feeling it.
“I was in my local town last week, in a business; a tyre business, and normally you’re in a queue in that place,” Mr Gordon says. “I was in there for about an hour and I think there was about one other customer who came in the whole time I was there. So there’s got to be at least something of a flow-on effect happening. But certainly if the drought goes on…I think we’re on the cusp of really fundamental changes at the moment.”
Many of Australia’s rice farmers are running out of ways to try and beat the seemingly never-ending drought. Les Gordon says that even though the land is potentially suitable for other crops, they too have failed to produce a harvest on the parched soil.
“There’s potential to grow winter cereal crops, but even that failed, or essentially failed, last year, once again because of the drought,” Mr Gordon says. “People are carrying more livestock but that’s becoming increasingly difficult. We managed to carry livestock through last year on failed cereal crops (but) it’s looking pretty bleak right now.
Les Gordon says that options for the rice farmers are getting increasingly limited.
“I guess there’s a number of scenarios; one is if a lot more places go on the market, and people…sell and go,” says Mr Gordon. “(Or) people may just walk away and come back when it rains, and go and try and earn income another way, it they’ve got the wherewithal to do that. Each individual business and each individual family will all react differently.”
If the rains finally come this autumn and winter, it will be too late to affect the global rice short-fall in the near term, but in Australia at least it could help to salvage a once thriving $800 million industry.
“The only glimmer of hope on the horizon is that rice is an extraordinarily good crop to grow under the Australian system,” says Mr Gordon. “We have a good climate and good soils and when we’ve got good water we can produce a lot of rice really quickly.
“And being an annual crop we don’t have a lag time,” Mr Gordon continues. “We can plant in October as we normally do, and we’re harvesting rice by the end of March effectively.
“We can produce a lot of food really, really quickly…we just need the rainfall.”
