In total, the Australian rice industry provides employment to about 9000 individuals, making the Rice Growers Cooperative Australia's 43rd largest export company. In 1892, the NSW Department of Agriculture unsuccessfully attempted to produce upland rice varieties under natural rainfall conditions at Grafton Experimental Farm. It is often grown in rotation with legume pastures and dryland crops, which improves soil fertility and limits the need for pesticides. In one of the areas, the number of farms growing rice is restricted because of the restrictions on the amount of water available for irrigation. Average farm size is 590 ha with 68 ha of rice harvested.
All operations are mechanized.
Another 30-000 t are produced annually in northern Queensland. Only a small amount of rice is produced in the state of Victoria. The area sown to rice is unlikely to increase because available water is fully committed. A sizeable proportion of rice crops is established by aerial sowing. There is some drill seeding into the prepared fields and some no-tillage drill seeding into fallow pasture pods.