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(06/25/25) CROWLEY, La. — With harvest season rapidly approaching, rice farmers took a break from their own fields and converged on those at the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station June 24 to hear from experts about the latest industry trends and to get updates on research aimed at helping them grow a better crop.
Although farmers are facing depressed commodity prices and are keeping their fingers crossed that recent rains won’t dampen their upcoming harvests, there was still plenty of good news to go around at the field day, which has been held annually at the station near Crowley for 116 years.
One such highlight: Two new rice varieties have been released and will be available next year, and more are in the pipeline.
One of the new releases, PVL05, will serve as a complement to PVL03, which currently is Louisiana’s most widely grown rice variety. Both of these long-grain varieties are part of the Provisia system, which allows growers to control grass weeds.
While PVL03 is an outstanding variety, it has a few issues that are more pronounced in some years, including reduced yields in later-planted rice.
“With PVL05, we’ve seen slight yield increases on the good years, but where we’ve seen the biggest difference between PVL05 and PVL03 is on the years and the environments where 03 has struggled,” said Adam Famoso, rice breeder and resident coordinator of the station. “It seems to be just a little bit more stable and resilient.”
There are some tradeoffs, however. PVL03 is known for making an excellent ratoon, or second, crop. PVL05’s ratoon potential isn’t quite as strong, Famoso said. And PVL05’s milling quality scores slightly under that of PVL03.
Still, Famoso believes PVL05 has its place in Louisiana rice fields.
“We’ve had producers, like any variety, PVL03 just hasn’t been a good fit for whatever reason, and we’re hopeful that PVL05 will give them another option and might be a better fit for their operation,” he said.
The station also has released Venus, a new medium-grain variety. Famoso said it provides consistent yield improvements over existing medium-grain varieties, including Jupiter, which the AgCenter released two decades ago.
While Louisiana primarily grows long-grain rice, it’s still important to generate new medium-grain varieties, which are commonly used in products such as cereal. Famoso credited Brijesh Angira, a breeder the AgCenter hired a few years ago, for expanding the station’s medium-grain efforts.
The breeding team is eyeing three other experimental lines for potential release:
Famoso noted that each of the new and potential releases fill different niches.
“In Louisiana, we grow a lot of rice, but a lot of this is in different market segments,” Famoso said. “Market segments can be defined by what that rice is going to be used for. We also have market segments that are based on production practices.”
Growers need a wide range of options so they can choose varieties that perform well in their fields and allow them to compete in various markets, he said.
Some varieties have traits that help farmers endure challenges. In the trying economic times of recent years, many have counted on their rice crop’s “ratoonability” for extra income to make ends meet.
“Last year, we had probably the biggest ratoon crop that we’ve had in Louisiana,” said Ronnie Levy, AgCenter rice specialist. “We had excellent yields, and if it wasn’t for the ratoon crop, a lot of producers economically would have suffered.”
He’s optimistic that farmers will see similar results this year.
“We have a lot of the varieties that tend to come back very well and produce a good second crop,” he said.
Louisiana has about 470,000 acres of rice this year. Levy expects harvest to begin in the first week or so of July, providing that weather conditions cooperate.
There is some concern about the impact of recent rainfall, which affects pollination of rice and can encourage the spread of diseases. But overall, Levy said, the crop is in good shape.
He said producers are more worried about economic matters: Will they be able to sell their rice, and at what prices?
“Producers are not feeling very profitable this year,” Levy said. “Hopefully, we’ll see some prices increase as we get through the harvest season and get some of the crop from last year out into the market.”
Other items on the field day agenda included presentations on entomology, plant pathology, weed science and agronomy research. The event drew attendance from across Louisiana and even internationally, including a delegation from the Indonesian University of Brawijaya.
After a morning spent touring research plots, participants moved indoors, where they heard from an array of officials.
Many of the speakers praised the longstanding partnership between the rice industry and the AgCenter, which includes a grower-funded checkoff program that supports the breeding initiative and other research endeavors at the station.
“I can’t share with you how important that is to the success and viability of our rice industry for generations to come,” said Richard Fontenot, a rice farmer who serves as president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. “Without it, we’d have a different conversation today.”
Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said industry support and the AgCenter’s research and extension programs make Louisiana a “rice powerhouse” that helps feed the world’s growing population.
“In the United States of America, we produce more food and feed more of the world than any other nation,” he said. “We’re the largest exporter of food in the world. Twenty percent of the food exported in the world comes from the U.S. Louisiana is an export state.”
The AgCenter has embraced its role on the worldwide stage with its new strategic plan, the theme of which is “Louisiana Solutions, Global Impact.” The plan was rolled out in the spring under the leadership of Matt Lee, who had been at the helm of the AgCenter and College of Agriculture since 2022 and recently was named interim president of LSU.
Lee, sporting a shirt emblazoned with a large AgCenter logo, enthusiastically assured the field day audience that “ag is a priority for LSU and will continue to be.”
“But we have to do it as a team,” he continued, drawing on LSU’s systemwide “We Build Teams that Win” campaign. Farmers, industry groups, governmental entities and the AgCenter must all work together to make much-needed advancements in agriculture.
He said he has “full confidence” that the AgCenter’s leaders — including Mike Salassi, who took Lee’s place as interim vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture — will do their part.
“They’re going to continue to ensure that the resources of the AgCenter are connected with the producers,” Lee said. “They’re listening to you all and making sure that we’re providing the kind of support and services that you all need to engage in the work that you do so we can continue to remain not only national but global leaders in the work that we do.”
Salassi, an economist by training, said rice is important to Louisiana’s economy.
“The approximate value of the 2024 rice crop in Louisiana is about $713 million,” he said. “The economic impact of those dollars in the state and the rural communities is about $2 billion. That’s $2 billion of economic activity supported by the Louisiana rice industry in just one year, and they do that every year. Our mission here at the station and in the administration is to make sure we constantly have an excellent research staff here and make sure they have the resources they need.”
Tara Smith, director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, reflected on the significance of the annual field day, which gives people a chance to see research firsthand.
“This is a signature event for the LSU AgCenter, the state of Louisiana and the rice industry,” she said.
The station embodies the AgCenter’s land-grant mission of conducting practical research and sharing the findings with farmers, she said.
“You have a dynamic research team and you have the translational piece that is our extension specialists and all of our agents that work across southwest, central and northeast Louisiana that extend that research-based information out,” she said. “You can’t have the research without the extension. It works together. There is a unique synergy that comes together, and the rice industry has had it figured out for a long time.”
LSU AgCenter rice breeders Brijesh Angira, left, and Adam Famoso speak to attendees of the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
PVL05, a newly released rice variety, grows in a test plot next to PVL03, which is currently the most widely grown rice variety in Louisiana. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
LSU AgCenter rice specialist Ronnie Levy discusses his work at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Interim LSU President Matt Lee addresses the crowd at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, speaks at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Looking on at right areTara Smith, director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, and Mike Salassi, interim vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Mike Salassi, interim vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture, speaks at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Interim LSU President Matt Lee, left, shares a light moment with Richard Fontenot, president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Visitors ride on a trailer during the field tour portion of the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Experimental rice lines are on display at the AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station’s 116th annual field day June 24. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
