Rice is produced worldwide and is the primary staple for more than half the world's population. In the United States, rice farming is a high-cost, high-yielding, large-scale production sector that depends on the global market for almost half its annual sales. Domestically, per capita rice consumption—including rice used in beer—has risen sharply over the past 25 years.

All U.S. rice is produced in irrigated fields, achieving some of the highest yields in the world. Producers in the United States can apply seed aerially in dry or flooded fields, or drill or broadcast seed into dry fields. Fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides can also be applied by air. California producers seed primarily by air directly into flooded fields. Except for southwest Louisiana and the Texas Gulf Coast, most producers in the South drill seed.

Planting typically begins in early March in Texas and southwest Louisiana. The Delta plants the bulk of its crop in April, and California's crop is planted from late April through mid-May. Harvest begins in early or mid-July in Texas and southwest Louisiana. Peak harvest in the South is in September and early October, when the Delta harvests the bulk of its crop. Some producers in Texas and southwest Louisiana are able to reflood their fields after harvest and achieve a partial second or "ratoon" crop from the stubble of the first. California typically begins harvest at the end of September and finishes by early November.

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