LITTLE ROCK — In 2024, Arkansas grew nearly half of all rice produced in the United States.

Most of that is grown in Eastern Arkansas, with just five counties — Arkansas, Jackson, Lawrence, Lonoke and Poinsett — producing nearly 35 percent of all the rice grown in Arkansas.

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension Service recently released its B.R. Wells Arkansas Rice Research Studies survey for 2024.

The survey was created in 2002 to monitor and record changes in the way Arkansas rice producers approach their livelihood. The survey is conducted by polling county extension agents in each Arkansas county that produces rice, and asks questions on such topics as tillage practices, water sources and irrigation methods, seeding methods, and precision leveling.

The survey is available on the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station’s website.