ABOVE-average yields and high pool returns have southern NSW rice growers smiling as harvest nears.

Headers are due to start harvesting the first early-maturing varieties in the Murrumbidgee Valley within a fortnight.

With pool prices of $400-$550 a tonne, grower numbers and crop area have more than doubled compared to last year.

This year, 345 growers in the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Coleambally irrigation areas are expected to harvest about 175,000-185,000 tonnes of rice.

Although this is well down on the historic crop average of 1.1 million tonnes, it is a significant jump on last year's drought-affected 66,000 tonnes.

Ricegrowers' Association of Australia executive director Ruth Wade said a 800,000-tonne crop was needed to get regional milling infrastructure back to full operation.

Mrs Wade said this year's crop would be milled at Leeton.

"This crop will more than supply our domestic market, which is 150,000 tonnes, enabling consumers to get back to the premium SunRice product they are used to," she said.

The larger crop comes on the back of improved irrigation allocations, with Murrumbidgee growers receiving 24 per cent of their entitlement, and Murray growers 20 per cent. "People are quietly confident we will get an autumn break in time to plant next year's crop," Mrs Wade said.

RGA president and Barham grower, Les Gordon, will harvest 60ha of rice - his first crop in four years. "It feels terrific," he said.

"I call it the retraining block, as I had almost forgotten how to grow rice."

Mr Gordon said many Murray Valley growers had turned to dryland cropping and livestock, trading on their equity, in the absence of rice.

"One of the frustrations of returning to rice was the pool returns were historically high," he said.

"Opportunities were going begging, as people didn't have the water to grow a crop."

Stuart Nixon, of Finley, grew his last rice crop in 2004 and has turned to grain-finishing lambs and dryland cropping to fill the void.

Mr Nixon said record lamb prices provided some compensation for rice growers.

"Even if I was suddenly able to grow 180ha of rice again, it would be difficult, as the skilled labour has been lost from the district," he said.

Jerilderie grower Ian Mason said it felt good to see rice growing in the region again.

"The doomsayers reckon the industry is on its knees, but that's not the case at all," Mr Mason said.