Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Feature Story

Overcoming a slow start, California rice farmers expect a good crop

• By Ching Lee • If early harvest results are any indication of things to come, California rice farmers say they should have a decent crop this year with good market conditions to match. Except for the late May rains that...

Arkansas scientists investigate effects of high night temperatures on rice quality

Arkansas scientists are working to develop rice varieties that are tolerant of Arkansas’ frequent high nighttime air temperatures, a condition that can significantly reduce yields and post-harvest quality. Paul Counce, a University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture professor and...

Producer meetings offer crawfish raising tips

Crawfish season may be just around the corner, but a Louisiana State University AgCenter crawfish expert said it's still too early to start flooding fields. LSU AgCenter and Sea Grant crawfish specialist Mark Shirley said straw and vegetation in the...

Food bank donations highlight National Rice Month

• By Bruce Schultz • Louisiana rice industry leaders kicked off the National Rice Month with donations of rice totaling almost 32,000 pounds to area food banks. A donation of 15,000 pounds of rice to the Second Harvest Food Bank was...

America Calrose medium-grain rice debuts in Costco stores in Japan

Costco stores in Japan have just completed a first-of-a-kind tasting test of American-grown white Calrose rice. The successful testing brings the product one step closer to being sold alongside other popular American products at Costco and other retail stores throughout...

Arkansas farm family strives to reduce rice’s carbon footprint

At the edge of Chris Isbell’s rice field, three miles south of Bayou Meto, the famous duck-hunting wetland, Ben Runkle tight-rope walks the narrowest of bridges, a one-by-12 plank spanning two cinderblock towers. He’s proud of the bridge, designed...

Insect pests pose problems for late-planted crops, including rice

When relentless spring rains pushed the planting window wide open, entomologists predicted problems for Arkansas row-crops. That has certainly proven true for the state’s late-planted cotton, soybeans and rice, said Gus Lorenz, Extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas...

Got disease? UCCE will be checking as part of burn plan reapproval

University of California Cooperative Extension is surveying for rice diseases this fall. The objective is to document the incidence of diseases in Sacramento Valley rice fields to justify to the California Air Resources Board the industry needs to continue...

LSU AgCenter plans crawfish workshops

The Louisiana State University AgCenter will host five crawfish meetings in south Louisiana to help producers get ready for the upcoming season. “Pond management, including water and vegetation management, are among the topics that will be addressed,” said Mark Shirley,...

USA Rice Outlook Conference registration opens

Registration for the USA Rice Outlook Conference, the largest rice-specific event in North America, opened this week. USA Rice has added to the conference this year to ensure the event's tagline, "If Rice is Your Business, This is Your...

Nature Conservancy teams with Kellogg’s to give away pump timers

With financial support from Kellogg's, The Nature Conservancy plans to give away and install Murphy pump timers to rice producers within Arkansas' Cache River watershed. The region, centered around Newport and Walnut Ridge, is an area both groups are targeting...

Monitoring armyworms in rice helps reduce damage

Armyworms can be a serious pest in rice as the larvae can eat the rice leaves or panicles and cause yield reductions. In 2015, a severe outbreak of armyworms caught California rice growers by surprise, resulting in yield losses. In...

MU plans $6.5 million investment in ag research centers, including Fisher

University of Missouri officials plan to make a $6.5 million investment in the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, which includes 15 facilities statewide. Among them is the Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville, which focuses on rice, cotton and irrigation. The...

Northern California rice producer honored for industry service

The California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation recently honored Butte County rice producer Frank Rehermann for his years of industry leadership, including 20 serving on the California Rice Commission. In presenting the California Rice Industry Award, CRC President and CEO Tim...

Alan Lawson named ‘Farmer of the Year’ by International Rice Festival

The International Rice Festival in Crowley, Louisiana, has named Alan Lawson of Crowley as its Farmer of the Year. A graduate of Crowley High School, Alan attended Louisiana State University Eunie before transferring to LSU in Baton Rouge, where he...

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