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Steve Shaffer, Director
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
ph: (916) 657-4956
fax: (916) 657-5017
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Rice Straw Utilization Grant Program
The purpose of the Rice Straw Utilization Grant Program is to facilitate the development of off-field uses of rice straw and thus reduce economic and environmental impacts of current in-field straw management practices. Grants are provided as an incentive to innovative persons who use California grown rice straw for processing, feeding, generating energy, manufacturing, controlling erosion and other environmentally sound purposes other than open-field burning. The program was established by AB 2514 (Thomson, Chapter 1017 of 2000) to facilitate development of off-field uses of rice straw as a means to avoid the financial or air-quality costs of field disposal.
The Rice Straw Utilization Grant Program provides incentive grants at a rate of not less than $20 per ton utilized on either a per-ton or on a per-project basis with no single grant exceeding $300,000. The Program gives highest priority to projects that demonstrate the ability to expand use of rice straw in the nearest time frame and utilize the largest quantities on a long-term basis, over and above existing quantities of use. Projects must also demonstrate environmental benefits and the ability to assist in developing a market for rice straw not dependent on government assistance.
The rice industry has lead many other groups in developing alternatives to open-field burning. In order to aid in the continuation of this role of leadership within the agricultural industry and to enable the transition to a free-market utilization of agricultural biomass including rice straw, financial incentives are needed to support development of off-field uses. The rice industry has been under a mandate to phase down open-field burning in the Sacramento Valley since 1992. The phase down was successfully completed in 2000 in terms of meeting acreage reduction goals. However, it was anticipated that off-field uses of rice straw would become commercially available during the same period of time. Only a small fraction of the estimated 1 million tons of rice straw available is removed and utilized each year on a small number of the 500,000 acres of rice lands in the Sacramento Valley. The lack of development in off-field uses has resulted in significant increased costs to growers of $16 to $54 per acre to incorporate rice straw into the soil. The cost of acquisition of rice straw for off-field use is approximately $25 per ton plus hauling and storage costs which can range from $7 to $30 per ton depending on distance to the end-user and the type of storage. This cost barrier must be overcome with value-added rice straw products that can compete on the open market. This Program has given incentives to several innovative operations to further develop these markets and help solve the rice straw dilemma.
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