“In row rice across the state, billbugs are turning up. We’re trying to determine their effect on yields. Frankly, we don’t know a lot about them. They’ve always been around but never turned into a huge problem because the flood handled them. But row rice is a different scenario, and we see a significant number of dead tillers associated with them. Without any trouble, you can find billbugs in nearly every row rice field in the state.”
Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:
“I’ve drained about 20% of my rice acres, and the crop is moving along nicely. We’ve dealt with high stink bug numbers and sprayed, but we haven’t had to retreat.”
Blake Foust, Consultant, Southern Heritage Cotton, LLC, Forrest City, Arkansas:
“Most of the rice is heading, and we’ve seen only a few stink bugs. The crop appears to be heading toward success.”
Scott Holder, Helena Chemical Co., Cleveland, Mississippi:
“We drained a little rice yesterday (7/30) and will continue with that a bit more this weekend and into the first of next week. Only a small percentage is ready but that will increase a good deal over the next 7 to 10 days.
“Someone will probably cut the first sample around August 15. Typically, that starts here on about August 20, but growers cut a few samples around August 15 in the last couple of years. I can remember people sampling as early as August 12 a few years ago.
“Our rice looks nice, although you never know how it will turn out until the combine begins moving. Mostly, stands are good and clean. Any real blanking doesn’t seem apparent. We’ve pretty much sprayed everything for stink bugs. Numbers were quite bad in certain places but borderline in others.
“Growers wrapped up watering on about 90% of the corn we work. Some corn harvest will probably begin in two weeks or less where growers have dryers.
“We sprayed bollworms in most of our soybeans that were either planted or replanted in mid to late May. Our April beans are podded up, and we can hardly find anything in those fields.”
Mike Simmons, M&J Ag Consulting, LLC, Jonesboro, Arkansas:
“I don’t have any fields ready to drain yet. Typically, we expect that to begin on or just after August 8, but this year we’re probably two weeks away (as of 7/31) from the first fields being ready. Overall, the crop looks average to fair, and a handful of fields have headed. We’ve contended with a lot of grass and red rice pressure this season.
“The first two or three fields headed out a couple of weeks ago, and we did have to spray that part of the crop for rice stink bugs. The numbers ran 9 to 15 on 10 sweeps, which still weren’t as high as people reported in south Arkansas. We sprayed once, and counts have pretty well remained below threshold.
“More rice is heading out now and counts are running 3.5 to 4.5 per 10 sweeps, with the threshold at 5 per 10 sweeps in the first two weeks of heading. We haven’t treated that rice yet and will see if the numbers drop next week. If the counts come up any, we will spray.
“Our soybeans range from V4 all the way to R3.5. We haven’t had to treat them yet, although corn earworms might become an issue in the next 10 to 14 days as they come out of corn. In corn, we’re at about 50% on the starch layer. It rained 1.5 to 2 inches a couple of days ago, so we’re finished with watering.”
DeWayne Dopslauf, Crop Production Services, Wharton, Texas:
“Draining started in a little rice, and we hope to move into a limited amount of harvest next week. Stink bug treatments are still going out on some late rice.
“Draining began just about on schedule, although part of this crop is still running behind. The crops on the east and west sides of Houston are pretty close together, age-wise, which isn’t always the case. With so many fields going to prevented planting this year, acreage is way down, and it also doesn’t seem like we have as wide a range of crop ages as we normally expect.
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This weekly report is distributed during the cotton production season. It is available to United States residents engaged in cotton farming, field scouting and other qualifying ag professions. Mailing address: 142 Westlake Drive, Brandon, MS 39047. Office: 601-992-9488.
