Rice – Harvest Starts On A Small Scale – AgFax

CROP REPORTS

M.O. Way, Texas A&M Entomologist, Beaumont:

“Leafhopper damage has become apparent in some rice acreage that also holds crayfish. That’s a tough situation because materials you’d use on the insects would be lethal to crayfish, too. Rice stink bug populations are not as high as last week, but farmers still need to treat if populations exceed threshold.

“In general, the crop looks much better compared to a few weeks ago. We mostly missed the storm (Barry). It rained 2 to 5 inches in places in southeast Texas, maybe more in spots, but only about three-quarters of an inch was measured here at the Beaumont center.”

Jarrod T. Hardke, Arkansas Extension Rice Specialist:

“Everyone has been worried about this storm (Barry). It turned into a slow-moving event that has nearly exited the state (as of early evening, 7/16).

“Mostly, rain totals ran 3 to 4 inches, which would have caused huge problems if combined with high wind speeds. But while the forecast called for winds up to 35 mph, that never came to fruition. And the rain fell very slowly. We’d expected heavy and quick tropical amounts, like 5 inches in an hour, but that didn’t happen to any extent.

“In isolated spots, totals ran 6 to 7 inches, maybe more, and low-lying field areas are submerged in those cases. We need to move that water off in less than 7 days where plants are in the reproductive stage. If water is over that rice for more than 10 days, it’s likely a complete loss. Younger rice can stand submergence for much longer.

“Our course, it could have been worse. In places, enough rain may have fallen to overrun or blow out levees, but no one I’ve talked with is reporting major problems like that. Growers who did shut off pumps a couple of days prior to the storm made the right call.

“Enough rain at least fell to spare growers from pumping right away, so that will save a bit of money. On the other hand, this rainfall over several days will set us up for sheath blight. Blast is on the table, as well. But sheath blight, in particular, could run rampant.

“In places, heading was well under way ahead of the storm. It’s unknown how much the rain affected pollination, although in another week we should be able to see any blanking it caused.

“This weather wasn’t a good situation for anyone with young beans. Enough rain fell to back up water on low ends of fields, and when it turns hot, that could scald those plants.”

Bobby Golden, Mississippi Extension Rice and Soil Fertility Agronomist:

“With the storm (Barry), we got lucky. It rained a while but amounts weren’t overwhelming. Here at Stoneville, a bit over 3 inches fell. The most I’ve heard was 5.5 inches.

“Mainly, we went through extended periods of drizzle that were broken up by hard downpours of short duration, but it didn’t rain hard enough long enough to cause problems. So far, I haven’t heard of any levees blowing out. That’s not to say it didn’t happen somewhere but no one has mentioned that in any conversations this week.

“Also, the wind was minimal compared to what you’d expect with a tropical system. At least at Stoneville, nothing went over 15 mph.

“We haven’t had too many insect problems, although rice stink bugs are showing up where barnyardgrass is bad and heading. They’re sitting on the barnyardgrass and waiting for the rice to head out, so we may be in for a bad RSB year.

“So far, not much disease. We’ve had to treat a field of Thad, a specialty variety susceptible to blast.”

Eddy Cates, Cates Agritech Inc., Marion, Arkansas: 

“Rice maturity varies widely, from just recently flooded to just beginning to head. For the majority of the crop, we’re applying fungicides and things are moving along well. The row rice seems to be doing especially well. With this extended wet weather, we’re closely checking for sheath blight.”

Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley:

“Most of our rice producers fared pretty well when hurricane Barry moved into the state. That includes farmers in both southwestern and northeastern Louisiana. That’s not to say we didn’t have wind damage in certain areas and also flooding in at least one part of the state.

“Where rice was flowering, the wind disturbed pollination, so a bit of storm-related blanking is likely, and grain also was bruised in places. But lodging was minimal. Mostly, we were very fortunate.

“The area that received significant damage was in a narrow band in the south-central part of our rice growing region. It kind of fell in a line from Oberlin to Ville Platte to Bunkie where more than a foot of rain fell and rice went under water to some extent.

“How much the crop was hurt through there will partly depend on how fast growers could get the water off fields. But, again, most of our rice was spared the brunt of the storm.

“In our southwestern parishes, the only rice that would have been affected would be any plants still flowering, but a good deal of those fields are beyond that point. We’re probably just a week away (as of 7/16) from draining most of that rice.

“A small amount of rice, in fact, has already been harvested. No word on yields. That acreage was planted in mid-February. Every year, a handful of farmers plant a bit of rice that early on small acreages before starting into the main part of their crop.”