AgFax Rice - Louisiana
OVERVIEW
More rain has put planting on hold again in the Midsouth. The rain mostly started on Wednesday and lapped into Thursday. More rain is in the forecast through Sunday in parts of the Delta states. If the forecast holds, it could be the middle of next week before anyone thinks about getting in the field again.
How late farmers will plant remains the big question. Prevented planting claims will be filed in at least cases, especially where fields are still covered by water. But farmers also are weighing whether to go with a catch crop of lack-luster soybeans or stay with rice, albeit planted late.
Aerial seeding is being kicked around as an option, which happens in any year when planting stalls out due to excessive rain and flooding.
Texas and southwest Louisiana also have been inundated. The coastal belt crop is far enough along that more rice has gone to flood. The first instance of green ring was reported in southwest Louisiana.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:
"We're probably 75% finished with rice planting. The first of my rice was planted in late March. That rice took a month to come up and it's been kind of a struggle to deal with it.
"Some of my rice is going to flood today (5/7). It's on zero-grade land and we're kind of pushing it. The Tensas River is so high that we can't pump out of it because the power units would be under water if farmers hadn't moved them. The water for flooding will come from a reservoir that holds enough for one round of pumping. Rain is in the forecast, too.
"My rice acres will be about the same as last year."
Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley:
"Last week I talked about growers getting fertilizer and herbicides out before all the expected rain, then go to flood, and that's what people did on a lot of acres.
"Not everyone was able to do that. In some cases, growers looked at the forecast and knew it would rain enough to take them to flood, but they wouldn't have time to apply fertilizer. Plus, they knew it would rain enough that it probably would be a while before the ground was dry enough to get in the field again. So, they went to flood, too, but will have to spoon feed nitrogen on those fields.
"It's rained a lot in the last couple of days (from 5/9), and the expectation is for 4 to 7 inches today, based on weather notifications on my phone. A lot of it so far was hard rain and it's steadily raining now (late afternoon).
"The system has stalled. It rained yesterday, and there's potential for flooding along the Interstate 10 corridor. More rain is in the forecast for tomorrow and Saturday. I just hope we don't have flooding over the rice, but we'll deal with that if it happens.
"A consultant told me yesterday that he already had found green ring in some Mermentau planted in the second week of March. That's surprising. Most of our rice is in early tillering, with a flood established on a lot of fields where we didn't want it.
"Overall, the rice has moved a lot in the last week. We have some good looking rice out there, and much of that has to do with warmer temperatures and nitrogen applications."