Early planting and warm conditions provide good start to rice season

in southwest Louisiana begins March 10and continues until April 15, while the planting window in northeast Louisiana is April 1 through May 5. Research has shown that planting rice in this window provides rice with the highest yield potential in most years. Yields start to decline quickly when planted outside the recommended windows due to an increased potential for high temperatures at flowering and grain fill, increased pressure from diseases such as blast, sheath blight and bacterial panicle blight, and an increase in insect pressure.

During the first 2 weeks in March, favorable soil conditions in Southwest Louisiana provided an opportunity for a lot of rice to be planted. Both drill-seeding and water-seeding were utilized. I would estimate that 70-75% of the rice in the Southwest region was planted in this window. Some growers have told me that they have completed planting their rice intentions already. The one negative of this is that much of this rice will be ripe at the same time at the end of the season. On the other end of the spectrum, we do have some growers in the southern region that have been plagued by constant pop-up showers and have not have the opportunity to start drill-seeding yet. Rains moved back in the regions around March 15 and have halted much further planting progress since then. Soils here at the Rice Station might be planted again today or tomorrow if we are not hit by a stray shower.

Figure 1. Field of CLJ01, Clearfield Jasmine-type rice, water seeded on March 4. Rice is
growing rapidly this year due to warmer than normal temperatures.

Higher rainfall totals have plagued central and northeast Louisiana thus far this year.

With warmer weather this year, our rice has emerged from warmer soils much quicker and evenly, and our water-seeded rice is growing at a much faster fast rate this year as compared to many previous years. This is quite opposite of what we saw last year, when cold, wet soils slowed germination and emergence and caused spotty and uneven rice stands. See PDF for Figure 1 which shows the historical average daily air temperature highs and lows for Crowley from March 1 to 22. It also shows the daily high and low temperatures for this year. You can see that we are much warmer than normal this year so far. Generally speaking, we are about 10 degrees higher per day than average this month. Based on this data, from March 1 to March 22 in Crowley we have accumulated 412 heat units (DD-50). Last year we had only accumulated approximately half of that, 207 DD-50 heat units, the first 22 days of March. This can explain why our rice is growing much faster this year.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused school and business closures throughout the state in an effort to slow the spread of the disease and “flatten the curve.” It has also influenced the rice industry here at home. Agriculture is considered a critical industry to ensure the food security of our nation. Farmers and agriculture related businesses including seed, fertilizer, transportation, and consulting, just to name a few, have continued operations to ensure this year’s crop is produced to feed the nation. Did you know that 80% of the rice that is consumed in the U.S.A. is produced here? If not, you may have noticed that rice is hard to keep on the shelves lately in our grocery stores. Yesterday was National Ag Day, and I personally would like to thank all our farmers and ag industry workers for their contribution to the food security of our nation. By the way, today is National Whole Grains Day. So be sure to thank your rice farmers today!

There are not a lot of positive things that can come from a crisis like the one we are facing; however, there is one thing that has helped get our crop in the ground this year and that is the contribution from our youngest generation and future rice farmers. Since schools have been closed, school age young men and women have helped the family farms across the state. Shelter in place, on a tractor, has been a common practice for farm families. This has provided an opportunity to teach our young farmers about preparing land, planting, and managing an early season rice crop. This is an educational opportunity that is generally not available since the bulk of these practices generally occur while school is in session.

LSU AgCenter Extension Offices are closed across the state. Even though offices have been closed and travel has been suspended, we are still here to help you. We are all available to be reached by e-mail, phone and text messages. Virtual diagnoses of problems can be done through conversations and pictures. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

There are also several new and older publications available online which are available to you. These include:

2020 Rice Varieties and Management Tips

The 2020 version of the Rice Varieties and Management Tips publication is now available online (click here for PDF version). The publication contains the official LSU AgCenter recommendations for all phases of rice production including variety selection, agronomy, fertility, diseases, insects, and weed management.

Louisiana Rice Production Handbook

The Louisiana Rice Production Handbook is available online (click here for PDF version). The publication contains an in-depth look at all phases of rice production.

Economics of Furrow Irrigated Rice in Northeast Louisiana

This publication is only a few weeks old and contains information on the economics and agronomic practices associated with furrow irrigated (row rice) rice production (click here for PDF version).

Billbugs in Row Rice

This one-page extension publication contains information on the billbug lifecycle, injury, management and scouting in furrow irrigated (row rice) production (click here for PDF version).

2020 Rice Enterprise Budgets

This is an Excel-based spreadsheet that allows producers to evaluate cost and returns associated with rice production in Louisiana during the 2020 cropping season (Click here to access download link).

Projected Costs and Returns Crop Enterprise Budgets for Rice Production in Louisiana, 2020

This publication presents estimates of projected costs and returns for rice production in Louisiana for the 2020 crop year (click here for PDF version).

Evaluating Rice Rental Arrangements Under the Price Loss Coverage Program as Specified in the 2018 Farm Bill

This publication is a helpful planning & decision tool for Louisiana rice producers and land owners regarding rice rental arrangements (click here for PDF version).

Rice Cash Flow Model for 2020

The Projected 2020 Rice Farm Cash Flow Model was developed to assist producers in planning for the 2020 crop year. The model is an Excel spreadsheet which allows rice producers to enter projected acreage, yield, market price and production cost data for 2020 to estimate net returns above variable production costs and to easily evaluate the impact of changing percent of base planted on net returns (click here for PDF instructions).

Monthly Market Update for Corn, Soybeans, Rice, and Cotton

This newsletter is produced monthly and provides up-to-date information on commodity markets put together by Dr. Deliberto (click here for March newsletter).

2019 Rice Variety by Parish Survey

The 2019 survey data contains information on which varieties were plkanted in each parish during 2019. Also included is information on agronomic practices used and water management.

Join the Louisiana Rice Text Group List

If you would like to join the Louisiana Rice Text Group, simply text @larice to 81010. To unsubscribe to the group, simply text back “unsubscribe@larice” to the group.

If you would like to get the text messages by email, send an email to larice@mail.remind.com. If you would like to unsubscribe to the email messages, simply email larice@mail.remind.com with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Additional Information

Louisiana Rice Notes is published periodically to provide timely information and recommendations for rice production in Louisiana. If you would like to be added to this email list, please send your request to dharrell@agcenter.lsu.edu.

This information will also be posted to the LSU AgCenter website where additional rice information can be found. Please visit www.LSUAgCenter.com.

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