KENNETH GAUTREAUX
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
Last year, farmers that got their rice planted early got rewarded with higher yields, which is a typical result most years. But 2025 was not a typical year – if there is such a year in farming.
According to Ronnie Levy, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, growers had a planting window in March and most took advantage of it and got much of their acreage planted.Rain came in April, slowing down planting, but growers eventually returned to their fields and finished planting.
More wet weather later in the season is what kept yields from reaching their full potential.
“Fertilization on rice was late going out because of the weather,” he said. “We couldn’t do things on schedule and get that fertilizer out there when the plants needed it.”
Levy said yields were very good at the start of the harvest but quickly fell off. Yields rebounded back later in the season for some of the later-planted rice.
“Yields were good, not great, just slightly above average for the state,” Levy said.
According to Levy, second-crop harvesting has produced better than average yields for second crop, which should bump up the overall state numbers.
“Most fields that are being ratooned were harvested dry and in a timely manner, which helps with second crop yields,” he said.
Levy noted some issues facing the rice industry. The first involves an old pest that is making an appearance for the first time since the 1960s. The rice delphacid is a plant hopper insect from Central and South America.
“It’s a great concern how we will be able to combat the delphacid,” Levy said. “Texas has been in a crisis with this insect.”
One of the problems in dealing with the pest is the lack of insecticides that are available to use against it. The current chemistries offer limited protection against it, and because the insect likes to stay near the base of the plant, it is difficult to get the insecticide where the insects are.
“Early yields in north Louisiana were good, but later yields were lower because of the delphacid,” Levy said.
Dawson Kerns and Blake Wilson, two entomologists with the LSU AgCenter, are currently doing research on how to deal with the delphacid. Both agree the insect can cause major issues if it decides to become an annual visitor to the state.
“Under heavy infestations, you will see what’s referred to as hopper burn,” Kerns said. “So that’s going to be splotchy patches in the field of stunted and dead rice plants.”
Kerns and Wilson are studying which insecticides and application rates are needed to control the insects. If the pest does overwinter, which both entomologists are unsure if it will, additional control measures will have to be examined.
“While insecticides look like they are going to be our main focus early on, long term, if we have to deal with this pest every year, we’re going to have to look at an integrated approach with multiple management strategies,” Wilson said.
The second major area of concern is prices. Virtually all agriculture commodities have seen their prices fall significantly.
“Demand for U.S. rice is down,” Levy said. “The price is actually below break even for some producers.”
Because of prices, additional insecticide treatments for a pest like the delphacid will add another cost to production.
“It’s already thin profit margins, and you start factoring in additional insecticide applications, then it can make staying in the black really difficult,” Wilson said. ∆
KENNETH GAUTREAUX
LSU AG CENTER
Link To Original Article: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1763571490219