Just down the road from the Tunica, Miss., casinos, Abbott Myers is about to gamble that zero-grade leveling and growing rice after rice will improve his bottom line. But he's confident his risks would be much greater at the gaming tables than betting on the new cultural program on 120 acres this season.

"We looked at it and thought this would work well with zero grade," says Myers, who farms near Dundee, Miss. "If it doesn't work, it won't cost me too much money to put a slope back on it."

He has only to look at the success of his neighbor, Nolen Canon, who now has 500 acres in zero grade and has had three years of continuous rice grown on one field.

"If I'm going to stay in the rice business, I think it's the way to go," Canon says. "I am convinced of the water savings."

Despite Canon's apparent success, zero grade may not be for everyone. Mississippi State University weed scientist Mark Kurtz conducted an eight-year study evaluating rice-soybean rotation patterns on Sharkey clay. After the third year of continuous rice, yields dropped off significantly and never rebounded.

When dollar values were accumulated over the entire eight years and products costs were considered, all rotations outperformed continuous rice or soybeans. "We're not sure why rice yields dropped, but this research tells me that rice farmers wanting to grow continuous rice should proceed with caution.," Kurtz says.

Continuous rice culture also can worsen a red rice problem, since growers aren't rotating into soybeans, where they can use herbicides that fight red rice.

Should growers need to switch to soybeans to help manage red rice, MSU Extension Rice Specialist Joe Street says they should make sure they have enough well pumping capacity to move the water quickly across the field. If they don't, they could scald the beans.

"The well should be higher capacity to water soybeans zero grade," Street says. "You have to be able to flood the field rapidly, then drain it because if it takes you 10 days to flood the field on zero grade, your soybeans may be injured."

Growers considering producing winter wheat on zero-grade fields should ensure they have adequate drainage to accommodate a wet winter.

And zero grade doesn't come without a cost. To hire someone to move dirt costs about 80 cents a yard. Myers and Canon have their own dirt-moving and laser leveling equipment, which they say cuts costs in half. And they'll have to return periodically to touch up ditches and fields.

A natural evolution

Both Myers and Canon have always been firm believers in landforming or precision leveling, where fields are put to slopes of about 0.1 to 0.2 grade, depending on the cost of dirt moving. The practice has allowed them to eliminate most of the levees from their operations, improve water and labor management, and speed harvest.

At one time, Myers had a farm with 20 miles of levees on it. Nowadays, the fields have a few straight levees that are wide enough to drive on dividing the fields. Zero grade, where fields are totally flat and all levees are eliminated, seemed a natural evolution.

Canon admits he resisted putting his fields flat for several years, despite nudging from Bill and George Dunklin, Stuttgart, Ark., producers who are zero-grade veterans.

Since putting his first field to zero grade four years ago, Canon has increased the number each year and currently has 500 acres involved.

Just like landformed fields, zero-grade fields have a pad--a wide levee with a road--bordering the field.

Because getting water off a flat field is a concern, Canon dug a ditch between the pad and the inside of the field on three sides that feeds into his drain. The fourth, unditched side provides equipment access to the field.

Initially, he dug ditches with straight, erect sides, but he admits they need more maintenance than he cares to give them. In subsequent fields, he dug ditches with sloping sides that seem to hold up better.

Myers went further and put a grade to his ditches to improve water flow into his drainage outlets.

On one 400-acre farm, Canon has 320 acres that are land formed with a 0.1 to 0.15 fall. The remaining 80 acres are zero grade.

"The zero grade is the one I can get on first," Canon says. "I can work that zero-grade field before I work that graded field. That was a big example to me that you are not losing on drainage."

Efficiency through experience

Based on his experience, Canon has found that 40 acres is about the most efficient field size for zero grade. The actual area may vary by a few acres and depends on what's the least expensive in terms of moving dirt.

"We used to think big fields were the best way to go," Canon says. "Now I have reversed my thinking. A smaller area is so much easer to manage the water on."

Canon uses slotted-board risers to control the water level in his fields. And with no levees cutting across the field, Canon says harvest is "a dream."

"You just buzz through there and cut that stuff. You never have to jump a levee."

Zero grade also should help them manage labor, which is in tight supply and growing tighter. Using minimum tillage techniques, Myers and Canon already cut down on the number of passes needed to prepare fields for the next crop. Water management is made easer, and Canon jokes about getting rid of the shovel he used to use to tend levee gates.

Red rice plan

Myers already is thinking about ways to minimize potential red rice problems that could crop up with continuous rice. He will be growing his own seed this season so he has more control over quality and roguing red rice.

Canon says zero grade gives him the option to water seed, a practice that helps suppress red rice. And should he need to rotate to beans, Canon believes he'll have no problem getting the water on and off quickly.