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Signs are pointing to high rice seed demand for 2025, and reliable seed suppliers like Horizon Ag, who stepped up to help meet the increased demand last year, are preparing to do the same this season.
“Each year we plan our seed production for the predicted acreage, but then also plan for upside,” says Dr. Tim Walker, CEO of Horizon Ag. “In 2024, we had good seed production and had about 25 percent more seed to sell to growers looking for top-performing varieties. We rose to the challenge, supplying varieties offering excellent yield and milling quality potential.”
Thus far this season, Horizon Ag is seeing considerable interest in proven Clearfield® varieties like CLL18, CLL19 and CLL16, as well as Provisia® varieties PVL04 and PVL03. “One of our goals is to be a consistent, reliable supplier of seed, especially when it comes to our repeat customers,” says Dr. Walker. “We know rice growers are counting on us, and we have done our very best to anticipate demand again this season. We have received more calls for our varieties earlier than ever.”
Dr. Walker said one reason for the demand is farmers who hadn’t planted Clearfield or Provisia varieties from Horizon Ag in many years had a chance to see how well they fit their operations and the impact on their bottom line. For instance, CLL19 was new in 2024 and was planted on a considerable acreage in the Southern Rice Belt.
“Growers in Louisiana and Texas particularly like the earliness of CLL19,” says Dr. Walker. “It’s a great choice in South Louisiana where a ratoon crop is very important. We have received many reports about the strong performance of both the first and second crop CLL19 this year.”
In addition to CLL18, a very high-yielding Clearfield line that growers are asking for, Horizon Ag also is seeing continued strong interest in CLL16, which has won its place in fields across the region because of its proven flexibility and consistency. The conventional statured long grain variety maintains strong yield potential, even with later planting dates, and is known for its excellent seedling vigor. CLL16 is moderately resistant to lodging and is resistant to blast.
“This is a variety that is near the top in yields, year in and year out,” says Dr. Walker. “With the economic challenges many growers face because of low commodity prices, a reliable performer like CLL16 is a variety that growers want to have somewhere on their farm.”
Provisia variety PVL03 has been the top variety planted in Louisiana and is expected to go out on a lot of acres again in 2025. PVL04 also yielded very well in many areas of the North Delta in its first year of commercial planting last season.
New for the coming year from Horizon Ag is a high amylose variety — CLHA03 — that will be a great fit in areas where growers are contracting production to receive a premium for quality and identity preservation. CLHA03 meets the cooking and grain texture quality that is in demand by Central American buyers, while still providing growers here with top-end yield potential.
Medium grain growers also can expect a potential step up in yields this season with the new CLM05 from Horizon Ag, which joins proven medium grain performer CLM04.