AgFax MidSouth Rice Report

By Owen Taylor

AgFax

As tropical storms go, Cristobal had a minimal effect on the 2020 rice crop. Enough rain fell to blow out levees in parts of the Midsouth. But the storm's path put the coastal crop on the western side of its track, which would be the "good" side in terms of wind and rain. Rice that was heading in Texas and southwest Louisiana missed a calamity, although rainfall will blank some kernels.

More rice is going to flood in the Midsouth. Where growers were set to flood fields, Cristobal delivered plenty of free water.

Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana

"We're just passing midseason in the rice, and the crop looks pretty good overall. Our paddy rice has been in flood for probably three weeks.

"About 90% of my rice this year is row rice. We're dealing with a few weed issues in that part of the crop. But other than that, our row rice looks good, as well.

"When I got up this morning (6/8) there was seven tenths of an inch of rain in my gauge, but several rain bands came through after that. When I checked this afternoon, we had an inch and three tenths. We're hoping to get 2 inches of rain out of this storm (Chrisobal) because things were getting pretty dry. The way our luck usually runs with tropical systems, it'll rain 6 inches or nothing. We have been irrigating soybeans and corn like crazy.

"A lot of our soybeans are between R3 and R4 stages, and fungicides were applied on them. We started planting beans around March 18, and those are moving quickly now. I'd say 80% of the beans were planted by April 10.

"Corn looks excellent, and this rain was perfectly timed for it. We are just past pollination.

"I don't want to sound too optimistic, but we're in great shape. We have been very fortunate this year. We missed rains this spring that held up field work and planting to the north of us. I can't think of another year when we planted so much this early."

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

"All eyes were on tropical storm Cristobal, but it didn't have much effect on us. In southwest Louisiana, we luckily were on the west side of the storm – where you'll see less wind and rain – and the rice crop here fared pretty well. Rice didn't sustain much, if any, direct damage. High winds came along in places but weren't excessive.

"That said, some early planted rice was into pollination and did receive enough rain and wind to disrupt that process. That will cause sections of the panicle to abort, so we can expect a degree of yield reduction due to that.

"Northeast Louisiana has been pretty dry and received much-needed rain from the storm.

"A big portion of the rice in southwest Louisiana was in late boot and very near to heading when the storm came through. Probably 5% was in boot split or actually heading.

"We'll likely start a limited amount of harvest before mid-July. In northeast Louisiana, everything that isn't at flood is heading that way."