As this is being written the first week of October, the Louisiana main rice crop is basically in the bins. Harvest of the ratoon crop, which looks promising, will begin in earnest in the middle of the month. The 2010 Louisiana rice crop was one of contrast in weather and, ultimately, in yields. The seeding of rice in southwest Louisiana begins in early March, and this early rice encountered very cool conditions. In fact, at the Rice Research Station in Crowley, 27 days in March were cooler than the historical averages. These conditions slowed germination and seedling growth and development.

These conditions changed dramatically, however, as we moved into April. For the remainder of the growing season, temperatures were well above average. These excessively high temperatures apparently had an overall negative effect on rice yields. June is an important month for rice growth and development because most of the earlier planted rice is moving from primarily vegetative growth to reproductive growth where the grains are formed. High temperatures during June can affect this growth and development, and excessively high nighttime temperatures can be detrimental.

Historically, the average minimum nighttime temperature during June at the Rice Research Station is about 72 degrees. This year the average was 75.6 degrees. While 3.6 degrees may not seem significant, it is. Higher than normal temperatures accelerate the process of respiration in the plant. Photosynthesis occurs when the plant is exposed to light during the day and leads to the production of carbohydrates, which are stored in the plant. Respiration occurs both during the day and at night and converts these carbohydrates to energy to fuel metabolic processes in the plant. The higher the nighttime temperature, the greater the rate of respiration, which burns more stored carbohydrates. These same carbohydrates are used later to fill the developing grain. Therefore, the high respiration rate burns up more stored carbohydrates and leaves less available for grain fill. When these conditions occur, our rice yields are generally reduced, which is what happened this year.

Diseases are problematic every year, but this year we saw more bacterial panicle blight than we have seen in a number of years. While this disease is caused by bacteria, it is always more prevalent when we have the high nighttime temperatures experienced this growing season. This disease also caused yield reductions in many fields. We are also seeing more weedy rice plants, which cannot be controlled by NewPath and Beyond in Clearfield-seeded fields. These plants are the result of earlier outcrosses between Clearfield rice and red rice or volunteers from a previous crop of a Clearfield hybrid. Rice water weevil pressure was normal, and stinkbugs were light in the earlier rice but extremely heavy as later rice headed. We also had more down rice to deal with this year than in the last few years. While a handful of producers had very good to excellent yields overall, most averaged several hundred pounds below what they had harvested in the last couple of years. This is coupled with the lowest rice prices we have seen in recent years. All in all, this will not be a rice crop for the record books.

This article is being written from the Okeetee Club, which is a privately owned 52,000-acre bird hunting reserve near Ridgeland, South Carolina. Ridgeland is in extreme southeast South Carolina, about 20 miles north of Savannah, Georgia, and about 20 miles west of Hilton Head. I am here on a conservation retreat with my friends Larry White, Ed Conner and Joe Conner. The Okeetee Club is managed by our close friend Bert Sheflit, who is a native of Denham Springs. Bert has been in charge of this scenic wildlife paradise for more than 20 years. This region of South Carolina is known as the Low Country, and it is famous as being the site of the first successful rice production in the United States. The production began in the late 1600s and was a major agricultural enterprise in the area for more than 200 years. Many areas on the Okeetee Club were former rice fields and evidence of this can still be seen in remnants of levees and drainage ditches in what are now mature stands of timber. It is truly mesmerizing to walk through these beautiful woods with the realization that these were rice fields hundreds of years ago and that this successful South Carolina production was an important precursor to the rice industry of Louisiana today.

Permission granted by B. Leonards (LA Farm & Ranch), Ocotber 20, 2010 to republish article on www.lsuagcenter.com.