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GEDrew is a brown rice with an odd kernel trait that sidelined its commercial prospects. Now, Agricultural Research Service scientists’ re-examination of the trait and its link to increased antioxidant levels could give the rice variety a new commercial lease on life. GEDrew is the result of a mutagenesis rice breeding program conducted more than a decade ago by rice ... Read More »

• By Luis Espino and Ian Grettenberger • Do you want to make sure your freshly planted rice fields don’t look like the muddied mess on the left below (versus clear on right) following a pyrethroid application? Wondering if your tadpole shrimp are becoming less susceptible to pyrethroids? We do too! Pyrethroids are widely used for managing tadpole shrimp, and ... Read More »

• By Whitney Brim-DeForest, Sean Hagan and Luis Espino • For the past several years, California rice has been dealing with a pesky new weed, weedy rice, aka “red” rice. Weedy rice is a difficult pest to manage, because it is the same species as rice (both are Oryza sativa L.), rendering herbicide use next-to-impossible. In the southern U.S. rice-growing ... Read More »

While 2019 was doom and gloom for rice producers, 2020 may be the year of the rebound for the state’s largest agricultural export, with total Arkansas rice acreage expected to increase 25% to nearly 1.5 million acres. “We’re expecting a sharp increase in total rice acres driven by long-grain rice, with a modest reduction in medium-grain acreage,” said Scott Stiles, ... Read More »

• By Vicky Boyd Editor • Dr. Russell Rasmussen has been named the new associate director of the California Rice Experiment Station in Biggs. He will work alongside current director Dr. Kent McKenzie and will take over as director when McKenzie retires Dec. 31. “We have some overlap, which is a great model for hiring new people,” Rasmussen said. Prior ... Read More »

The 2020 versions of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture publications on managing insects, weeds and plant diseases are now available online, through Cooperative Extension Service offices across the state, and, in one case, as a mobile-friendly website. MP44, “Recommended Chemicals for Weed and Brush Control”; MP144, “Insecticide Recommendations for Arkansas”; and MP154, the “Arkansas Plant Disease Control ... Read More »

Two new Clearfield releases did well in 2019 with high yield potential, good blast resistance • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • University of Arkansas rice breeder Dr. Xueyan Sha made the initial crosses for the Clearfield varieties, CLL15 and CLM04, shortly after relocating to the university’s Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart in 2013. By using the university’s winter ... Read More »

• By Kurt Guidry • The rice market continues to slowly move up as tighter supplies and generally strong demand has helped to support higher prices. While the December 2019 World Supply and Demand Estimates report did not provide many significant changes from the previous month, the changes it did make reinforced the perceived strong market demand and tighter overall ... Read More »

Every year around this time, many of us make resolutions, looking forward to the new year and imagining how we can make the world a better place and improve ourselves. It’s a time of new beginnings, fresh starts and optimism! There’s no doubt 2019 was hard: Prices and acreage were down; uncertainty plagued the trade front; and weather, where the ... Read More »

We have had some good ground working weather in the Texas Rice Belt during November and December, so proactive farmers are breaking and leveling ground in preparation for the 2020 rice crop. This fall/winter preparation is crucial to planting early — some Texas rice farmers try to plant as early as mid-February. Early planting allows for avoiding late summer and ... Read More »