Horizon Ag: Planting and Crop Progress Making Gains Across the South

South Louisiana and Texas

A lot of rice in my area has been planted for six to seven weeks. Some of the rice is borderline on being tall enough to flood, but it is tillering and needs fertilizer and water. With warmer temperatures, herbicide and fertilizer applications are going out this week in front of flood establishment. Rice that has been recently flooded is really beginning to grow off nicely. Stands are very good, and in a week or so our rice crop is going to look much better.

Most of the calls I have been getting lately have been about the Provisia™ Rice System. We are seeing some crop response on PVL01 from the first application of Provisia herbicide. Still, I have no major concerns from any of the fields I’ve looked at. Based on the cool temps we’ve had, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we’ve had no more crop response to the Provisia herbicide than what we’ve observed. I’ve looked at fields that were sprayed with 10-15 ounces of Provisia per acre, and the "weedy rice" control has been excellent in all the fields. Crop response with the first application of Provisia is to be expected. Be patient, as the response symptoms will fade as growing conditions improve. 

If you have any questions, please give me a call.

Michael Fruge 
District Field Representative
(832) 260-6193

North Louisiana and Mississippi

After two months of no more than three consecutive days in the field in most places, we are finally running wide open. There has been a significant amount of rice planted in my territory in the last few days, and it looks like we’ll be able continue this pace at least through the end of the week. Planting conditions have improved greatly, and we’re seeing the results. The earliest planted rice is finally starting to show some progression, and it will continue to get better.
 
We’re on the verge of having some weed control issues, so it will be important to take advantage of the opportunity we have to get caught up with spraying. One thing to watch out for on the earliest planted rice, as we hopefully progress to flooding in the month of May, is the possibility of reduced efficacy where insecticide seed treatments have been used. Clothianidin and thiamethoxam are the two most common active ingredients for rice water weevil control in the upper Mid-South. These two products can lose efficacy if the time between planting and flooding is abnormally long. Once the field is flooded, it will be critical to observe for adult weevils and leaf scarring. If these are present, a pyrethroid application may be warranted.
 
If there is any way I can assist you, please don’t hesitate to call.

Tim Jett 
District Field Representative
(901) 687-6362