In the semi-arid environment north of Deniliquin in southern New South Wales, a seasonal wetland has been created and with water, comes life. Frogs croak, insects flit and the endangered Australian Bittern - also known as the Bunyip Bird - has come to nest. Surprisingly this wetland is a commercial crop. It is rice.
Best in the business
Australian rice farmers produce more rice per hectare than anyone else in the world and industry leaders are Josh and Emily Small. Their dedication to best practice saw them recently recognised as the 2024 SunRice Growers of the Year. It is a dedication that incorporates holistic management and the continued pursuit of improved water efficiency.
"The beauty of rice is its adaptability to the environment," Josh says.
"It is a crop that can be grown or not grown depending on seasonal conditions, so we are not taking water from environmental requirements."
When water is not available, rice is not grown.
For the Small family, who have been growing rice since the 1950s, rice is one cog in their holistic wheel.
Through the cooler months, wheat, barley and canola are grown. When these are harvested the paddocks are sown with vetch, a nitrogen-fixing legume that reduces the need for artificial fertilisers. Onto the vetch go Merino ewes and lambs, to fatten before October.
It is a crop that can be grown or not grown depending on seasonal conditions, so we are not taking water from environmental requirements.
Then it is time for rice.
Rice is either conventionally sown with direct drilling into heavy clay soils, which minimises water seepage, or aerially sown into paddocks flooded with water.
Then, using water gravity-fed along channels from the Murray Irrigation Scheme, the paddocks are saturated and the wetlands are created.
"Once the water is on, it becomes a daily task to monitor levels morning and night because rice needs permanent water," Emily says.
Water flow between rice bays is adjusted, according to crop requirements, by manually operating concrete stops.
It is a labour-intensive time and "a lot of wives don't really like rice over summer because they can't go anywhere," Emily says.
The Smalls are sowing four rice varieties this year: the medium-grained Sherpa, VO71 and Illabong that are used in everyday cooking, and the short-grained Opus that is used in sushi.
Carbo-hydrate
Reusing the water used to grown rice underpins the Small's operation.
"Growing rice gives us a soil moisture profile for the winter crops but because we also recycle water used on rice, capturing it in one of three dams, it is also used for pre-irrigation," Josh says.
"We get a double hit of the moisture."
You can have done everything right but at the end of the day Mother Nature pulls the trigger.
Apart from the water component, growing rice is similar to growing other grains and as in all farming is weather dependant.
"The biggest challenge we face is the huge climatic variability," Josh says.
"The last few years have been quite difficult going from either too wet to too dry, and that leads to an emotional rollercoaster, which can be hard on family life. You can have done everything right but at the end of the day Mother Nature pulls the trigger."
Working with, not against, Mother Nature is one of the reasons Josh and Emily were awarded Rice Growers of the Year.
In addition to reduced fertiliser and water use, the Smalls use natural grades for their rice paddocks to assist water flow, keep tree corridors for drainage and as wildlife attractants, and support research and development initiatives.
It's beautiful, especially in the evenings, to come here and see the brolgas and other birds and hear the frogs.
"SunRice is doing a lot of work tagging and monitoring Bitterns in rice paddocks and we are taking part in an automation trial," Emily says of two research projects.
"That might mean families may be able to get away over summer in the future," she adds with a laugh.
Despite the summer challenges, the Smalls find solace in their wetlands.
"It's beautiful, especially in the evenings, to come here and see the brolgas and other birds and hear the frogs and know that rice is a flexible crop we can use in our holistic program when times are right," Emily says.
"We love growing rice."
