Second year in a row for rice yield records in Riverina

Riverina rice growers are hailing 2025 as one of their most successful, with a yield record achieved for the second year running.

Riverina rice growers are hailing 2025 as one of their most successful, and it has been confirmed that a yield record was achieved in the Riverina.

It is the second year in a row a rice yield record has been broken. However, officials remain tight-lipped as to who the grower is and what the exact result is.

Ricegrowers Association president Peter Herrmann said the rice harvest was about 99 per cent finished and there had been some excellent results.

He said the yield result and name of the grower who had broken the current record would be announced in August. However, the outcome was indicative of a good overall year.

“We have had above average yields and a very favourable growing season with perfect weather at harvest,” he said.

“It was warm and dry.”

Rice growers say the 2025 harvest is 99 per cent complete.

In its crop report, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences projected a 600,000 to 700,000-tonne crop for 2025, while not identifying the exact number, Mr Hermann confirmed the overall yield “has a six in front of it.”

He said with a big crop the challenge was in finding storage and then selling it.

Rice prices, based on medium grain was set at $430 a tonne and there were premiums for some of the long grain varieties.

This time last year it was Andrew and Leanne Cameron of Willbriggie who grew a record-breaking crop achieving a yield of 16.85 tonnes a hectare.

Mr Cameron said it had been another good year and it was testament to the industry to hear the record had been broken again.

He said given the season he wasn’t surprised that someone had been able to break his record. He said it was also a reflection on the improvements to varieties and an overall good rice-growing year.

“We were really happy with how harvest went but we are needing some rain now,” he said.

Mr Cameron had been sowing wheat into rice stubble and said it was extremely dry.

In past years sowing wheat into rice stubble had been problematic simply because it was so wet. But now Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area farmers were holding out for rain to assist winter crops.