Icheon’s royal grain is celebrated at the festival. In the paddy, the harvester broke down.
A family of three arrived at a paddy with a truck and a tractor carrying their harvester. The father unloaded the machine. His wife and son cut stalks along the edge by hand to clear its path.
“Last year was better.”The son, who farms only at planting and harvest. Rain cut a field from about eight loads to maybe six.
Then the harvester broke down. After a round of phone calls, the family sat down to eat beside the field and wait.
Icheon sells its rice as Imgeumnimpyo, “King’s Table” rice. Local tradition says King Seongjong tasted it in 1490, after visiting King Sejong’s tomb, and ordered it sent to the palace.
At the Icheon Rice Cultural Festival, a woman tends a wood fire under a gamasot, the iron cauldron families used before electric cookers.
“Icheon rice is the best.”Kim Mu-saeng, 80s, women’s association leader, Daewol-myeon
“A good piece of farming equipment can cost more than 200 million won.”The son. “The really good machines are Japanese, but they’re too expensive for us.”
Small farms use machines only twice a year, so owners take on other farmers’ fields to pay them off. Repair technicians are scarce. “If a machine breaks down these days, you can lose an entire day’s work.” Drones help only farms of 100,000 to 200,000 pyeong, roughly 33 to 66 hectares.
“It’s because of Hetbahn,” said Kim Young-jun, a third-generation farmer, naming CJ CheilJedang’s ready-made rice. A 10-kilogram sack is a burden for one person.
CJ CheilJedang bought about 65,000 metric tons of Korean rice in 2025 and plans 60,000 to 70,000 in 2026. It contracts about 2,500 farmers in 14 regions. In September it launched a 110-gram Hetbahn, nearly half the 210-gram standard.
of retail sales value. All other brands share the remaining third.
Area in hectares. Donghaeng is a rice variety developed by CJ CheilJedang and grown by farmers under contract to supply the company.
Compare the amount of cooked rice with the standard 210 g pack.
Falling household demand tells only part of the story. For small growers, the open question is how easily they can join these supply chains, and how much of the value reaches them.
The government aims to plant about 640,000 hectares of paddy this year, about 38,000 fewer than last year. It expects 66,000 tons more rice than needed and is moving to stabilize the harvest-season market.
- 01 · PARLIAMENTAssembly passes amendment
The National Assembly passes the revised Grain Management Act, alongside a separate agricultural price-stabilization bill.
- 02 · PROMULGATIONAmendment promulgated
The revision strengthens advance supply management and government responsibility when supply and demand fall out of balance.
- 03 · PREPARATIONSupply planning starts early
The government draws up its 2026 grain supply plan before the law takes effect. The strategic-crop payment budget rises from 244 billion won in 2025 to 419.6 billion won.
- 04 · DRAFT RULESImplementation rules opened for comment
Draft enforcement rules undergo public consultation. The law provides for surplus and price criteria, with the grain committee setting thresholds within ranges prescribed by decree.
- 05 · IMPLEMENTATIONThe law takes effect
Annual grain supply plans become mandatory. The revision supports switching paddy fields to other crops and establishes a statutory grain supply-management committee.
- 06 · FIRST HARVESTThe first harvest-season response
After committee review on Oct. 12, the ministry announces its harvest plan: a projected 66,000-ton surplus, a plan to recover 120,000 tons of loaned government grain, and purchases of 400,000 tons for public reserves. Loan-return volumes and timing remain subject to review.
The aim is to control production first, rather than deal with surplus rice afterward.
“Forklifts keep running in every direction. Even parking is hard. For those of us who work here, it’s a safety risk.”A worker at the Icheon NongHyup rice processing complex, where stock has backed up
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