Feature

Seven years after the National Agricultural Aviation Association conducted its last comprehensive industry survey, new insights about the U.S. aerial application industry have emerged, thanks to a landmark survey of Part 137 operators and pilots conducting agricultural operations. The 2019 NAAA Aerial Application Industry Survey confirms aerial application is as vital to modern agriculture as it has ever been—and the ... Read More »

• By Bruce Linquist • Rain in May, especially in the amounts we have seen this year, are far from ideal for rice growers. It makes establishing seedling, nitrogen management and weed control extra challenging. Rain in May is not new. In 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2005, average May rainfall in the Sacramento Valley was 2.3 inches and average statewide ... Read More »

• By Yeshi Wamishe • Field history is a major factor when considering to use fungicide seed treatments. If your field has a history of seed rot and seedling diseases (mostly blight and seedling death), it is highly possible you’re dealing with a seedling disease complex caused by fungi and other microbes, of which Rhizoctonia solani is part of. Remember ... Read More »

State Legislature mulls bill that addresses mislabeling of ag products. • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • Louisiana lawmakers are following their Arkansas counterparts and are taking up a bipartisan truth-in-labeling proposal for agricultural products. Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, introduced Senate Bill 152, the “Truth in Labeling of Agricultural Products Act,” into the Louisiana Senate April 8. Rep. John Stefanski, R-Crowley, ... Read More »

Fungicide-resistant sheath blight should be a wake-up call to follow resistance management rules regardless of where you farm. • By Vicky Boyd, Editor •  Resistance of the sheath blight pathogen to the popular strobilurin fungicides continues to increase, encompassing roughly half of Louisiana’s rice acres as well as one confirmed field in Mississippi. Although strobilurins still provide good sheath blight ... Read More »

Combination seed treatments may kill two weevils with one blow. • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • A weevil that prefers drier ground and typically frequents rice levees has begun damaging furrow-irrigated rice, thanks in part to a lack of permanent flood in the upper portions of the fields. At the same time, producers of row rice — as the system ... Read More »

Three factors influence prices and could help move rice markets from their current doldrums. • By Kurt Guidry • There has been very little positive momentum in the rice market over the past several months. Cash prices in Louisiana are still being reported in the $17 per-barrel range (roughly $10.50 per hundredweight) and have been at that level for much ... Read More »

• By Jeff Gore • The 2019 planting season has gotten off to a rough start with all of the rain. Today (Thursday, May 9), we have gotten well over 4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours in Stoneville, Mississippi, and a lot of the Delta has gotten similar amounts. As a result, a lot of fields have ... Read More »

• By Tommy Butts • Heavy and relentless rainfall this spring has led to interest in water-seeding rice. This method can be an effective seeding strategy (Fig. 1); however, weed control becomes a bit more challenging, especially with residual herbicides and their potential to cause crop injury. If considering water-seeding rice, here are some weed control recommendations specific to water-seeding. ... Read More »

• By Luis Espino • Over the winter, I gave a few presentations that touched on armyworms. In the presentations, I usually had pictures of adult armyworms. Several comments I got after the presentations made me realize that armyworm adult moths sometimes are confused with other moths or butterflies that are seen in abundance at certain times of the year. ... Read More »