A Lot Of Rice Already In The Ground

By Owen Taylor

Ag Fax

OVERVIEW

Significant rice acreage already has been planted in southwest Louisiana and parts of Texas. With an extended run of warm weather in March and into April, rice grew fast in southwest Louisiana and fields have been going to flood for a while.

Planting in the Midsouth lags behind due to too much rain and a run of colder weather that followed Easter weekend storms. Rice that has been planted tends to be where farmers missed earlier rains or in areas that quickly dry out. For parts of the Midsouth, this is shaping up to be a repeat of the slow start in 2019.

Symptoms mimicking glyphosate damage are turning up on a wide basis in Louisiana rice. It's likely due to a one-two punch from excessive rain and cold temperatures. See Dustin Harrell's report.

Rice acreage could increase in parts of our coverage area. Compared to other commodities, rice prices continue to be a bright spot when farmers plan their crop mixes. Several of our contacts say that the stronger rice market appears to be drawing farmers into the crop for the first time or creating interest among people who dropped out of rice years ago.

CROP REPORTS

Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana

 "We've been very fortunate south of Highway 84 from Natchez, Mississippi, to Jonesville, Louisiana. We're 85% of the way through planting in that area. We've already planted a tremendous amount of rice, cotton, soybeans and corn.

"Of the rice I scout, about 70% has been planted, and most of it is up. With soybeans, about half of our expected crop also has been planted, and corn is done and fertilized. All the rain over the Easter weekend has held us up, but I think everyone probably will be running wide open Thursday morning (4/16). After that, it won't take long to finish everything else.

"My corn acres are down, and I think my cotton acres will be down 60% from 2019. However, my rice and bean acres are up.

"We will use more dicamba this year in cotton and soybeans than in the past. Growers who went with it in 2019 were very successful and didn't have any issues with it. We're planting more of the new FullPage rice. Growers will probably put FullPage on 50% of the rice acres I scout. All the rice I scout is in hybrids."

Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley

"We made a very quick start with rice planting in southwest Louisiana. Growers covered a lot of acres in early March. During much of that month, the high temperatures were 10 degrees above normal for that period, so rice emerged fast. The water-seeded rice started growing as soon as it hit the mud.

"It's been a really great start. As we moved into April, some cool fronts came through, so plant development kind of stalled out over the last 10 days (from 4/14). Then on Easter, those storms developed that caused all the tornadoes in Louisiana.

"Overall, though, the rice crop here looks great, and some started going to flood as early as April 1. Planting came in two rounds, and the second phase – the bulk of the crop – will probably be going to flood by Thursday (4/16) when a warm front moves through. I expect a lot of nitrogen to go out as conditions warm up. That's especially the case with water-seeded rice. Warmer conditions help plants take up nitrogen faster and get the most out of the application.

"It was actually dry most of the time in this part of the state until the Easter showers started, and for the most part those weren't very heavy down here.

"The only real issues in southwest Louisiana have been with insects, birds and snails. In places, cutworms reduced stands. Chinch bugs – which we typically don't see down here except on levees where it's drier – caused problems in places. With so little rain, relatively speaking, chinch bug numbers really increased. Channel apple snails killed some stands. Blackbirds also damaged stands, pulling up seedlings so they could eat the seed.

"In northeast Louisiana, it's been wet, and growers have experienced a tough start and are waiting for dry weather before they can push ahead much. South Louisiana was the exact opposite – hot and dry up until the last 10 days. But this week it's definitely been cold here.

"Glyphosate-like symptoms have been showing up in multiple parishes at an alarming rate over the past 2 days. While at first glance these symptoms resemble glyphosate drift injury, it can also be a combination of cold temperatures and wind damage, which basically are breaking the cuticle and desiccating the top portion of the seedlings.

"Fields with residual herbicide stress or stretched rice – from high water or gibberellic acid – will exacerbate the problem. Warmer weather should help this rice recover. In many cases, the crown is still alive and should produce a new shoot."