Current Issue

JOHN LOVETT FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS  Electricity and water don’t usually mix, but technological advancements in floating solar arrays open the potential to generate electricity while decreasing impacts on farm irrigation reservoirs and agricultural land. Michael Popp with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station is...

CONNOR WEBSTER BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA When it comes to deciding the direction of my research program, I rely heavily on my extension program to identify the needs of the industry. There’s always going to be unique one-off situations that may not...

RICHARD E. HICKS OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI This past week I spent a very enjoyable hour or so talking to a producer from California. It was very enlightening to speak with someone from that state. California is a place that pretty much...

Specialists Speaking - TYLER MUSGROVE - LOUISIANA Over the past 10-15 years, rice insect control has been an afterthought in Mid-South crop management. And it was for good reason — the pest spectrum was limited to a small handful of...

Specialists Speaking - SAM RUSTOM - TEXAS Background Over the past 10 years, rice delphacid (Tagosodes orizicolus) has become the No. 1 crop management concern for Texas rice producers. Native to Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, we think this...

Specialists Speaking - LUIS ESPINO - CALIFORNIA As I write this, planting season in California is starting. Price of rice is still depressed, so it is important to keep costs down. This might be a good time to review some...

Specialists Speaking - JARROD T. HARDKE - ARKANSAS You can’t outguess insects, but you can be on the lookout. Drought conditions create interesting concerns for developing insect problems. On one hand, there can be fewer alternate hosts for insects to...

Specialists Speaking- ANNA SMYLY Rice in the Mid-South is typically grown using the direct-seeded, delayed flood production method where a continuous flood is maintained from the four-to-five leaf growth stage until a couple of weeks before harvest. Maintaining a flood...

CARROLL SMITH CONTRIBUTING EDITOR As a child, fifth-generation rice farmer Mark Pousson grew up on the family farm in Jefferson Davis Parish in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. On a typical day, he could be found kicking the dirt and...

MOLLIE LANDERS BUCKLER KATY, TEXAS At an event a couple of weeks ago, someone asked how long I’d been working for the US Rice Producers Association. I gave my usual answer – five years this summer – and mentioned my family’s...

RICHARD E. HICKS OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI Well, at this writing we see a radical change in the geopolitical situation in the world and this, of course, has a commensurate impact on the marketplace. War is usually good for commodity prices and...

PETER BACHMANN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA I recently had the honor of testifying before the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Trade, and I’ll tell you what I told them: American rice farmers are getting a raw deal, and it has nothing...

ELSA HAHNE BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA In the heart of Cajun country, Allen Mclain farms about 3,000 acres of rice together with his wife, father, and two younger brothers. Much of their crop, all south of LA-14, is under threat. Saltwater...

BY MATT SALANIK BRIGHTON AGENCY The U.S. rice industry has never struggled to produce volume. What’s becoming harder is ensuring the volume consistently meet market expectations. According to Dr. Tim Walker, CEO of Horizon Ag, that distinction is forcing growers to...

JOHN LOVETT FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS Even though farmers have been dealing with rice stink bugs as pests since the 1880s, entomologists are still getting to know them at the genetic level. A first-of-its-kind study published on the genetics of rice stink bugs...