LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - As you drive by the countless rice fields of Louisiana, have you ever considered their financial impact in the state?

Brandon Vail is a 5th-generation rice farmer and has been planting rice for 18 years. This will be his 26th harvest.

“Harvest went pretty well; the yields were average across the board for the most part. Milling has been kind of consistent with past years, so it hasn’t been too bad as far as yield and everything like that,” said Vail.

He says the problem this year is that the price is way down.

Last year, Vail was getting $25 a barrel for rice, and this harvest he’s down to $17 to $19 a barrel.

“A lot of it is other countries dumping rice into the U.S. market. You have India and Thailand as well as Vietnam and Pakistan that are really dumping

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