Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Feature Story

MSU hires new irrigation specialist

Mississippi State University has hired Drew Gholson as an assistant professor and the irrigation specialist with the MSU Delta Research and Extension Center and the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer Water Center. He began his new job April 1...

MSU study: Rice water weevil densities vary within a row-rice field

• By Jeff Gore and Dan Roach • Read Kelly, a graduate student under the direction of Jeff Gore, has been investigating the relationship and densities of rice water weevils in furrow-irrigated or row rice. During 2017 and 2018, Kelly conducted...

On track

New ground sprayer design allows for wider boom, less rutting and improved efficiency • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • Randy Chrisman had an “aha” moment during the 2016-17 winter when he came up with the idea for a rubber-tracked sprayer with a...

While soybeans suffered in the 2018 market, Arkansas’ rice crop value soared

The value of Arkansas’ No. 1 crop fell by 15 percent in 2018 as the effects of an ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China took hold through the summer. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

Rain hinders rice planting in Louisiana

Heavy rainfall has been a challenge as rice farmers strive to get their 2019 crop planted. Farmers were able to get much of their crop planted during almost three weeks of dry weather, but rainfall during the first week of...

Arkansas rice production bounces back in 2018 from 2017

After a bruising 2017, in which substantial spring flooding cost growers in the state an estimated $175 million in lost production and damaged acreage, rice growers saw higher production in 2018 than in any of the three previous years,...

Researchers get to the root of weedy rice’s aggressiveness

Weedy rice is neither wild rice nor commercial rice, but instead rice gone rogue that has shed some traits important to people. It also is an incredibly aggressive, potentially detrimental weed that pops up almost everywhere rice is grown, and...

Take these steps to prepare for possible fertilizer shortages

• By Trent Roberts • With current Mississippi River levels above flood stage along all of Arkansas’ eastern border, there are increasing concerns that limited barge traffic combined with reduced access to Arkansas ports may tighten fertilizer stocks during periods...

2019 planted rice acres expected to decline 3%, says NASS report

Planted rice acres for 2019 are only expected to decline about 3 percent from 2018, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Services' Prospective Plantings Report released March 29. Altogether, growers say, they plan to plant 2.87 million acres this...

University of Arkansas to begin breeding new Provisia rice lines

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will begin breeding new lines of Provisia rice varieties, which use non-GMO herbicide-resistant traits developed by BASF. The Division of Agriculture and BASF signed the breeding development agreement earlier this year. Bob...

Texas A&M researcher explores plant survival under extended flooding

ice crops can stress under too much water or water at the wrong time. Developing tolerance to these flooding stresses and improving rice cultivars is the life passion for Dr. Endang “Septi” Septiningsih, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Rice...

Researchers work to develop rice varieties for different irrigation regimes

• By Niranjan Baisakh, Adam Famoso, Jonalyn Yabes, Rodante Tabien and Dustin Harrell • New varieties are the life blood of the Louisiana rice industry. Rice variety development is primarily focused on the enhancement of yield, grain quality, disease and...

5 seed tips to maximize stand establishment

• By Jarrod Hardke • Soil temperatures remain cool, but it’s time to start putting some rice in the ground if fields are ready. Remember that seed treatments can start to run out of gas while the seed sits in...

2 Horizon Ag varieties rank in top 3 in Nicaraguan cooking test

Horizon Ag Clearfield rice and Provisia rice varieties – CL163 and PVL01 – ranked among the top three varieties for quality in a recent cooking test that compared samples from a previous shipment of U.S. rice to Brazilian and...

Arkansas growers play catch up during first relatively dry week

Throughout the Arkansas Delta, growers have eyed the first relatively dry week of weather since last September with cautious optimism. Stewart Runsick, staff chair for the Clay County Cooperative Extension Service office, says many growers in his area were able...

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