AgFax Rice - Louisiana
By AgFax.com, AgFax Media LLC
OVERVIEW
Rain and more rain in the Midsouth have further delayed planting. Growers did catch an open period in the first half of the week but yet another system has moved into the region. Enough rain could fall in places to shut off planting until the middle of the month. Decisions will have to be made about prevented planting where growers have that option. Some may stick with rice, even if planted late, because soybeans look even less attractive.
Uneven stands in southwest Louisiana are complicating decisions about taking fields to flood.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Ashley Peters, Peters Crop Consulting, Crowville, Louisiana:
"I wish all of our rice was planted but a couple of my growers have really just started good. Normally, we'd have a lot of rice planted by now and then farmers would have moved on to cotton and beans. But a lot of guys are still preparing rice ground before they can plant that.
"One client who has already planted about 1,000 acres of rice will probably have to replant about half of it. He planted that on April 1 and then it started raining. Over the next 3 weeks, it rained 10 to 12 inches on that farm. It was like that on a wide basis but amounts varied. One place might have gotten 6 inches, but another gauge may have only accumulated an inch. It's supposed to rain Friday and Saturday and then more into next week.
"Our bean acres are drastically down, with growers moving that ground to cotton or rice. At least right now, I don't think we'll see them swap back to beans. You might say that 'soybeans' is a four-letter word here. If growers have the infrastructure to grow cotton or rice, that's the direction they're heading."
Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley:
"We're still dealing with uneven stands due to uneven germination – some rice came up right away and other rice didn't. In the same fields, we have plants that are ready to take a flood and rice that only recently emerged.
"This is a widespread situation in southwest Louisiana. All this gets back to slow germination in cool, wet soils after our big round of early planting. I might know one grower who doesn't have this problem but everyone else is dealing with it.
"So, the question now is whether to take these fields to flood. The older plants are clearly ready for it but the younger rice clearly isn't. Growers hope to apply herbicides, fertilize and flood without killing the younger rice. On top of that, rain is in the forecast on Friday night and all day on Saturday, so it would be a good time to go to flood if they could.
"My recommendation has been to look at the younger rice that's just emerged and decide if you still would have a good stand if you killed most of that rice by going to flood. If the stand would still be okay, going to flood would be the right decision.
"A lot of these fields will go to flood this week, I think. If not and we go into another wet period, it's hard to say when the next dry period will be. Going to flood now would give you the upper hand on weed control. Otherwise, you could be into some expensive herbicide programs later.
"We've seen these uneven stands here and there over the years, but this year everyone has it. The problem is common, even rampant, and I don't know that it's happened before on this scale. We had that dry window back in March and everyone planted at the same time. The way the weather went, everyone has the problem now.
"A lot of rice is being planted in north Louisiana. Growers are trying to cover as many acres as possible ahead of this next rain."