Finally! We have some real Sacramento Valley heat going on, and the forecast looks like it will be a warm stretch ahead. The rice really needs it. It hasn't wanted to tiller at all.

I hope we don't get to harvest and end up with just one head of rice for every seed planted. The warm weather will really help the rice to send out more shoots, and the more the better.

I drive around all of my fields at least once and usually twice a day checking the water levels and to see how many weeds are out there. The weeds are really starting to show up now, and it can be quite disheartening to see them take over your rice field little by little. We are doing our best to control them, but it’s an ongoing battle. The more weeds present in the field equates directly to rice not going in the harvester.

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Sean Doherty is a 3rd generation rice farmer living out his dream, being a rice farmer in Dunnigan.

He farms in Yolo, Colusa, and Sutter Counties with his wife Melissa, and three kids, Hannah, Gus, and Mary. He enjoys being in the fields, watching the seasons, and sharing it with his family.

Read more about Sean in Rice Farming magazine