date:Jul 17, 2013
California rice farmer Charley Matthews Jr. remembers the excitement when Japan first started buying rice from the United States in 1993.
It really helped rice prices here, Matthews, chairman of the California Rice Commission, said. It was also the beginning of a learning experience for California growers. Until then, marketing rice was not about quality, it was about how many sacks you could grow, he said.
With 20 years of experience growing rice for Japan, California producers are hopeful