Gulf Coastal Plains and Mississippi Valley

Rice

(http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/commodity-costs-and-returns/documentation.aspx#.Upu31sRDuSo)

Rice production began in South Carolina in the U.S.A. But, cultivation continued in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and southwestern Louisiana (Mayda 277).

"Cajun rice production began during the eighteenth century. By 1900, rice was grown along the western Louisiana and eastern Texas coastlines. These areas continue to grow rice, but by the latter half of the twentieth century the prime rice-growing region became the Grand Prairie of southeastern Arkansas, where the solid, flat land was perfect for mechanized rice production" (Mayda 277).

Did you know...

• Arkansas cultivates 45 percent of U.S. rice.
• California is the next three times highest state.
• The gulf coastal area grows about 75 percent of American rice.
• America grows less than 2 percent of global rice production.

California Rice

http://www.calrice.org/Industry+Info/About+California+Rice/California+Rice+Growing+Region.htm

In calrice.org,  the website has facts about California's rice production.  The website says that California is the largest producer of short and medium grain japonica rice in the U.S., and California produces about 2 million tons of rice a year which makes California the 2nd largest rice growing state in the nation ( www.calrice.org).   


References
http://www.calrice.org/Industry+Info/About+California+Rice/California+Rice+Growing+Region.htm

http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/commodity-costs-and-returns/documentation.aspx#.UpvGgMRDuSp
Mayda, Chris. A Regional Geography of the United States and Canada: Toward a Sustainable Future. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. Print.