Wet paddy rice is dried in column or bin dryers with heated or ambient air. At large commercial dryers, the grain is typically passed through the heated column dryer twice. Bin dryers are frequently used for on farm drying and storage. Milling, marketing, and distribution California rice is milled and marketed through grower cooperatives and independent millers. Paddy rice is transported to the mill and hulled to produce brown rice.
Mills remove the bran to produce white rice.
California rice enters the market as quality table rice, processed foods, and mill by-products, including brewers' rice. Fifty to seventy percent of California's rice is used domestically, and the remainder is exported to the Pacific Rim, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Although the United States produces less than 1.5 percent of the world's rice crop, it contributes 18 to 20 percent of the rice moving in world trade. Most export rice is for cash sales, but government-assisted exports of California rice have helped meet the needs of countries faced with food shortages due to crop failures and other disasters. However, per capita consumption has been decreasing in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where consumers are diversifying their diets away from rice.