AgFax Rice - Louisiana
By AgFax Media LLC, AgFax.com
OVERVIEW
Rice planting forged ahead in much of Texas and southwest Louisiana. Growers caught windows at the right time and put seed in the ground.
Rains in the Delta continue dragging out field work and planting. Where any rice has been planted, it's mostly been in drier pockets and on higher ground.
More rain was in the forecast in the Midsouth as we wrapped up this issue on Wednesday. If the forecast plays true, more planting delays are in the cards. How much that affects final acreage remains a question. A couple of our contacts said that the subject of prevented planting is coming up in conversations with growers.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Harold Lambert, Consultant, Innis, Louisiana
"Rice planting started today. There was a chance that the Morganza Spillway would have been opened earlier to take some of that water out of the Mississippi River. Our rice acreage is below the spillway and that ground would have been flooded, so rice planting was put on hold. People are going now, though.
"One of the planes flying on rice seed actually crashed today (4/16), too. The plane had some mechanical trouble, I understand, and couldn't make it back to the airstrip. The pilot is fine, but that may slow planting progress a bit.
"All of our corn has been planted. We caught about a 3-week window on March 16 when the rain finally stopped, and all of our corn went in at about the same time. It's at V4 to V5.
"Over this past weekend, north Louisiana got bombed by more rain but only about an inch fell here, so we're not in bad shape. A few soybeans have been planted. It's still too early to get anxious about planting cotton. We'll maybe have a little more cotton. With soybean prices where they are, cotton isn't a bad option."
Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley
"The rice season has moved along pretty quickly in southwest Louisiana. Prior to March 13, we were really wet and expected more rain. But we missed it and then had more than 2 weeks of dry weather.
"A significant amount of rice was planted within the window. In fact, we probably planted 70%-plus of the rice crop at that time. We may be as much as 80% planted now (4/16), and a significant part of that early-planted rice is in the 2-leaf stage.
"Things didn't look too positive, though, at one point because a lot of rain fell after that dry stretch ended and a good deal of rice went under water. But because it had been so dry up until then, the ground actually soaked in a bunch of that water and we could quickly drain those fields. As a result, we avoided stand problems.
"We expected another big storm on Saturday (4/13) in southwest Louisiana but it mostly hit central and north Louisiana. Down here, we missed the bulk of the rain and are actually in the field today doing some planting.
"Northeast Louisiana got large amounts of rain, so it may be a while before they can get going again. Many of those farmers planted corn first and they hoped to move into rice, but the rain shut them down."
Hank Jones, C&J Ag Consulting, Pioneer, Louisiana
"Of the rice I'm working this year, maybe 5% has been planted and it's trying to come up. Usually by now we have a considerable chunk of rice in the ground. That's not the case this year. We've had plenty of rain and it's hard to check rice that's under water, which has been the case lately.
"In places, we applied Command then received 4 to 5 inches of rain, so I'm not certain how much control we can expect. More rain is in the forecast (as of 4/17).
"Overall, we will have a little more row rice, although I don't know of any planted yet. I'll have farmers this year who will grow rice for the first time ever and some who will plant cotton for the first time in 15 or 20 years. With depressed commodity prices, they're trying to work something else into their operations.
"I've cautioned these returning cotton growers that things have changed since their last cotton crop and they should simply follow along with what I tell them to do until they get the hang of things again. Seeing people coming into rice and cotton like this is kind of exciting.
"Growers finished planting corn but not quite all they wanted, and that's maybe contributed to some of that shift into rice and cotton. Mostly, the corn has done well. I'm keeping up with the DD50s. Despite some of the cooler mornings, corn isn't running behind what should be the expected pace, and some of the oldest is at V5 now.
"Many thousands of acres of corn were planted in a 7-day period. Gazing into my crystal ball, I see long, long lines at the elevators in August. Hardly any corn has been side dressed yet or been sprayed with atrazine, so I expect a big rush when people can get in the field again. After that, growers will move into planting beans and cotton.
"Only one of my clients has planted any beans, maybe a couple hundred acres. Cotton seed is in short supply, especially in certain varieties, and seed reps say there will only be one go-round with several of the varieties growers booked. So, we'll hold off on planting cotton until conditions are perfect and we have a better chance of making good stands.
"Hybrid rice supplies are short, too. One retailer said he still has a little inventory in a couple of choices, enough that if someone wants 80 acres of seed, the dealer can take care of him. But if he wants to plant 2,000 acres of it, he's out of luck."