Depend on flooded rice fields as habitat
So he idled one of his combine harvesters, and hired one less worker and one less tractor.
"I think it's the worst as far as the California rice industry is concerned on record," DeWit said. "One more dry year, and I think the impacts on California rice farmers will be devastating."
The reduced plantings also impact migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on flooded rice fields as habitat.
Every fall, millions of waterfowl fly south from Canada and Alaska to spend their winters in California's Central Valley.
After the fall harvest, farmers usually cover their fields with water to break down the rice stalks, creating wetlands habitat for millions of ducks and geese that can feed on uncollected grains and other plants.
"It is environmentally a very nice crop to have in the system. It mimics the natural system of a couple hundred years ago, when that area was wetlands," said Bruce Lindquist, a rice researcher at the University of California, Davis.
In a typical year, rice farms flood 250,000 to 300,000 acres in winter, but this year as few as 50,000 acres may be flooded because of water restrictions, according to the rice commission.