An LSU AgCenter plant pathologist will use a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pinpoint the location of a gene in rice that could help farmers control a potentially devastating plant disease.

“Our goal is to characterize the resistance to narrow brown leaf spot at the genetic and functional level,” said Jonathan Richards.

Narrow brown leaf spot is also known as Cercospora.

Short-grain rice developed by the LSU AgCenter has been planted for a New Orleans company to make sake, a traditional Japanese beverage that is becoming more popular in the U.S.

The Pirogue variety was planted on 31 acres at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station on April 6 by Rick Zaunbrecher, the station’s foundation seed manager.

After harvest in August, the rice will be sold to Wetlands Sake, and the field of remaining stubble will be used for crawfish.

The People’s Republic of China is the world largest producer and consumer of rice and has been exporting rice to neighboring countries until recently, according to Milo Hamilton, co-founder and senior agricultural economist for Firstgrain, Inc.

That is changing because of the need for more feed for the country’s growing livestock sector, and the strengthening of the yuan, China’s currency, Hamilton told viewers of the Rice Marketing Educational Seminar at this year’s virtual Mid-South Farm and Gin Show.

Farm bills, like most legislation, contain policy experiments. Usually they are small pilot programs or a variation on existing programs. Some experiments evolve into larger programs or become the standard program. A current farm bill experiment is the price of rice used in the PLC (Price Loss Coverage) and ARC (Agriculture Risk Coverage) programs

Rice may not be the first thing that comes to mind at the thought of south Louisiana's Cajun and Creole food, but it's everywhere — in jambalaya and boudin and served with red beans and a host of traditional dishes.

Now local entrepreneurs are using Louisiana-grown rice to make Wetlands Sake.

Louisiana is in the peak of rice planting season and Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., is reminding farmers that all rice for the planting of seed rice, commercial production and crawfish, are required to be tested.

Earlier this month, the United Nations-sponsored Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its monthly FAO Rice Price Update, drawing attention to the continuity of elevated global pricing. As with other commodities, products, and services, global rice prices have been no exception. The report cites increased prices throughout 2020 and the start of 2021 across the board for major rice producing countries.

There's a newcomer in the movement to kick plastic to the curb during Mardi Gras season.

While some have looked to paper or even algae as biodegradable alternatives, Jerome Milton's Houston-based company, NexEvo, has turned to starch as the base for his colorful Carnival beads.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael “Mo” Way on his retirement last month from the Texas A&M AgriLife Beaumont Research and Extension Center after a stellar career spanning 39 years. While his official title was “research entomologist,” Way wore many more hats serving the Texas, U.S., and international rice industries. He received his Ph.D. under Dr. Al Grigarick at the University of California, Davis, prior to joining the faculty at the Beaumont Center

The supply and demand outlook is unchanged for 2020/21 U.S. rice this month. The projected 2020/21 all rice season-average farm price is raised $0.20 per cwt to $13.60 with increases in the NASS prices reported to date and price expectations for the remainder of the marketing year.