The 2008 Louisiana rice planting season started out with a general air of optimism. The projected price for rice looked quite promising, and it appears that these projected higher prices will be realized. However, as the rice cropping season draws to a close, it will be remembered as one of the most diverse and surprising. The latest surprise was the announcement by the Farm Service Agency that the number of acres certified by Louisiana rice producers this year was approximately 468,000. While most industry observers expected the acreage to increase above the 373,000 planted in 2007, few expected the number to be this high. Earlier this year, I estimated that we would have more than 400,000 acres of rice in the state and could possibly reach as high as 420,000.

We began seeing evidence of this acreage increase in late spring. One sign was the large number of crawfish production fields drained early to be put back into rice production. In most years in fields with low or declining crawfish production, the harvest is shut down with the flood intact. Producers then deal with the field later after they are caught up with other production operations. This year, by contrast, many of these fields were drained, cultivated and then quickly replanted into rice.

This rice acreage increase was in spite of the highest-ever input costs. The cost of every rice crop input, in fact, was higher than those expended for the 2007 crop. In some cases, such as diesel and fertilizer, these costs rose dramatically.

Another surprise was the percentage of this year’s crop planted to Clearfield varieties and hybrids. While we have seen a steady increase in use of this technology since its introduction earlier this decade, it appears that over half of our acreage is now seeded to Clearfield lines. While this extraordinary technology allows rice farmers to selectively control red rice in a commercial rice field, the longevity of the technology can be decreased through outcrossing, which is the movement of the resistance gene from commercial rice to weedy rice.

This year we dealt with many fields where the Clearfield herbicides did not appear to do a satisfactory job of controlling the weedy rice plants. In some cases this might be due to application issues. In most of these fields, however, the lack of control is primarily due to weedy rice plants that contain the Clearfield gene as a result of outcrossing in previous Clearfield plantings in these same fields. This just emphasizes the importance of stewardship approaches to minimize this very real problem. The rice industry must do everything possible to sustain the use of Clearfield technology.

Another surprise (though it probably really should not be) was the one-two punch of two hurricanes in early September. Hurricane Gustav was first and moved through the middle of the state with little impact west of Lafayette in the traditional rice-growing region of Southwest Louisiana. It did, however, cause substantial damage to the rice crop from St. Martin Parish north through central Louisiana, east to the Mississippi River and up through the northeast portion of the state. While the storm-force winds caused some damage, most of the damage was from the 15-20 inches of rain that it left in its path. This water covered thousands of acres of rice, some of which was ruined to the point that the rice won’t be harvested. Those fields that will be cut have suffered substantial reductions in both yield and quality.

Less than two weeks after Gustav, Hurricane Ike spared us a direct hit in southwest Louisiana, but that is little consolation to those subjected to the surge associated with this massive storm. Some rice fields flooded by the surge will not be harvested, which will be devastating to those producers. Some of the fields flooded had been flooded by Hurricane Rita three years ago, which could have long-term consequences for productivity. The surge water’s high salt content could leave a high level of salt contamination in these fields after the surge water subsides.

A potential positive is that most of the fields that took this surge were still saturated from rains associated with Gustav. This may minimize the retention of salt in these soils. Three years ago these same fields were dry for the most part. At this point, however, this is simply optimistic conjecture, and we will not know for sure until the soil is tested. It is highly probable that many of these fields will not be suitable for rice production in 2009.

These two hurricanes certainly had a substantial impact on Louisiana agriculture well beyond rice. The latest estimate from the LSU AgCenter indicates that losses to the agricultural industry in the state because of the two storms could be at least $950 million.

Permission granted by B. Leonards (LA Farm & Ranch) on October 3, 2008 to republish article on the LSU Agcenter Web site.