The annual field day was held on July 2 at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station near Crowley. This is an event held at this time each year that showcases technological advances that have come about from research conducted at this facility. The field day is typically very well attended, and this year was no exception with over 600 in attendance.

The field tour this year had 5 stops with two scientists discussing their work at each. Some of the highlights from this year’s talks are presented below.

Rice Breeding -- At the first stop Drs. Steve Linscombe and Xueyan Sha discussed ongoing research to develop superior rice varieties for the Louisiana rice industry. Dr. Sha discussed LA2125, which is a very promising long-grain line with cooking, aroma and appearance characteristics very similar to that of imported Thai jasmine. Currently a large amount of this type of rice is being imported into the U.S. from Thailand, and it is hoped that this variety, which is well adapted to U.S. growing conditions, will allow our producers to produce a product that will be very competitive with this imported rice and hopefully decrease the amount imported into this country. This line is currently being grown in a 6-acre foundation seed field on the rice station, and if released, this seed will be available to Louisiana growers in 2009. Steve Linscombe spoke on the performance of CL151, a new Clearfield long grain that is in large-scale seed increase and should be readily available in 2009. This variety has shown a significant yield advantage over the currently grown Clearfield varieties. He also discussed the efforts to develop a medium-grain variety that can be used with the Clearfield system for red rice control. There are currently two candidate experimental lines in the program, and a decision to expedite advancement of one of these will probably be made after the 2008 research data are reviewed.

Rice Weed Control -- Dr. Eric Webster discussed his ongoing work to lessen the impacts of off-target herbicide drift on rice fields. This has become a significant problem in recent years mainly from the drift of glyphosate (used on Round-Up Ready crops) onto nearby rice fields as well as drift of NewPath and Beyond herbicides (used on Clearfield rice) onto nearby conventional rice. He also discussed his very promising research into the use of Permit herbicide either preplant or early post-plant for broad-spectrum economical weed control in certain cultural systems. Dr. Bob Scott (extension weed scientist with the University of Arkansas) discussed weed management in rice production in Arkansas. Weed resistance is becoming a serious problem in Arkansas. In the past six year, five weeds have been identified as having developed resistance to glyphosate, which is widely used for preplant burndown in rice production. In addition, propanil- and Facet-resistant barnyard grass (the most common weed pest in rice production) continues to spread. Dr. Scott and his co-workers now provide a service to test for suspected resistant weeds. In addition, his program is continually working to develop new technologies to deal with these resistance issues.

Rice Disease Control and Related Research -- A this stop, Dr. Don Groth discussed a number of disease control issues. Most Louisiana rice producers are adding the fungicide propiconazole to their fungicide program in an effort to minimize the effects of the cercospora complex, which was a serious problem in the 2006 crop. Also, Dr. Brooks Blanche talked about his research in blending various amounts of different rice varieties. Some of the promising aspects of this work include yield and milling stability over different environments as well as mixing a short-stature variety with a taller variety to improve lodging resistance. The ultimate goal of this work is to determine if blending can increase economic returns compared with the components planted alone.

Rice Insect Control -- Dr. Mike Stout discussed the new seed treatment insecticide Dermacor. Louisiana received a Section 18 label for the use of this material in 2008, and it has looked very good for the control of the rice water weevil (the most damaging insect in Louisiana rice production) as well as several other rice insect pests. Dr. Natalie Hummel discussed the latest developments with the panicle rice mite. This is a new rice pest in U.S. production that was found in the country last year. It is currently unknown how widespread or serious this pest might become. Work currently is under way to answer these questions.

Rice Production Research -- At this stop Dr. Dustin Harrell discussed his work on comparing conventional- and reduced-tillage systems at various seeding rates and nitrogen rates. While conventional tillage systems are currently the most commonly used in Louisiana rice production, reduced tillage is rapidly gaining in acceptance, and the increasing price of diesel may expedite adoption of these systems. Dr. Tim Walker (rice agronomist from the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Mississippi) discussed his research to evaluate the applicability of the use of light-reflectance technology to estimate midseason nitrogen fertilization needs in rice. This technology uses a spectro-radiometer to measure the light reflected from the canopy of rice across multiple wavelengths. This is a cooperative study with both Drs. Walker and Harrell participating, and similar studies are being conducted at Stoneville as well as the Rice Research Station in Crowley.

For additional information on any of this research, please contact Steve Linscombe at 337-788-7531

Permission granted by B. Leonards (LA Farm & Ranch) on July 9, 2008, to republish article on the LSU AgCenter Web site.