Summary

An extension agronomist says another year of reduced rice acreage could lead to permanent closures of Arkansas drying facilities, mills and other agricultural businesses. After planted acres fell to 901,000 this year, higher input costs, thin margins and long-term demand concerns could keep farmers from returning to rice.

An extension agronomist says another year of reduced Arkansas rice acres could lead to permanent losses of ag infrastructure.

Jarrod Hardke with the University of Arkansas says a single year of lower planted acres is manageable, but two years can cause businesses to close permanently.

“Dryer locations, mills, support in terms of retail, crop consultants and ag aviation,” he says.

The USDA says Arkansas farmers planted 901,000 acres of rice this year, down from more than 1.25 million acres last year. It was the first time planted rice acreage fell below one million acres since the early 1980s.

Riceland Foods, the country’s largest farmer-owned rice cooperative, temporarily closed nine drying facilities this year in response.

“If there’s less acres next year, I don’t see the facilities coming back online for rice,” says Jeff Rutledge, a farmer in Jackson County. “They may shift priorities and the focus for what the drying facilities do, but it won’t be for rice.”

Rutledge says it wasn’t a profitable year to farm and while rice prices have improved, many farmers likely won’t take the gamble again with rice.

“I bought diesel last year for $2.50 per gallon and this year, it was more than $5, pushing $6. In addition to fertilizer, it got up more than double of what it was last year. It makes thin margins very negative, very quickly.”

Rutledge also points to longer-term challenges for rice demand. He says the farm economic situation has become so difficult that he plans to leave farming.

“With the conditions the way they are, I just have gotten to the point where I was no longer willing to risk the multi-generations of labor and capital built by my family,” he says. “It was better to stop now and stop burning up equity.”

Hardke says the situation reminds him of what happened with the Arkansas cotton industry.

“When it went down, you saw a lot of cotton gins close for one year. They were able to sit idle for one year and in the areas where acres came back, at least somewhat, they opened back up. In the areas where the acres didn’t come back that was it. Closed, never to reopen.”

Hardke says farmers’ planting decisions next spring will help determine what happens, and there will be some hard conversations happening this winter.

Published Date: October 22, 2026