Glyphosate-Resistant Ryegrass In Mississippi
The severity of the glyphosate-resistant (GR) Italian ryegrass problem in Mississippi has varied from year to year, says Jason Bond, Mississippi State University Research/Extension weed scientist.
“This year has been the worst year since the initial confirmation in 2005, and GR Italian ryegrass is spreading,” Bond says. “In the spring of 2011, there were 13 counties in Mississippi with confirmed GR Italian ryegrass. We have identified an additional 15 counties in 2012 with several of these counties located in the hills.
“Corn is generally considered to be one of the more competitive crops because it emerges quickly, grows rapidly and shades the middles in a much shorter time than cotton or soybeans. However, corn is not competitive with large ryegrass, which is present right now across the Mississippi Delta.
“Similar to corn, rice is also sensitive to early season competition from Italian ryegrass,” he adds. “In 2011, we conducted a study at Stoneville comparing rice growth in plots with and without Italian ryegrass.
“Where rice was planted into Italian ryegrass residue, rice seedling density was reduced 25 percent, height was reduced 33 percent, and rice maturity was delayed from seven to 12 days compared with plots that did not contain Italian ryegrass residue. By the end of the season, rice yields were 15 percent lower in plots that contained ryegrass residue early in the season.”
Bond says some ALS-inhibiting herbicides (Group 2 herbicides) such as Steadfast or Stout labeled for corn and Beyond labeled in Clearfield rice provide fair postemergence control of Italian ryegrass. Unfortunately, Italian ryegrass is resistant to ALS herbicides across much of the Mississippi Delta, rendering this chemistry ineffective for ryegrass control. Therefore, it is imperative to control all Italian ryegrass before the crop emerges.
After Italian ryegrass reaches 12 inches, paraquat is the most consistent control option prior to crop emergence, the Mississippi weed scientist says. Large ryegrass (12 to 24 inches) will require two applications of paraquat (4 pints of Gramoxone SL or 2.67 pints of 3-lb paraquat) spaced seven to 10 days apart. Atrazine (1 quart) may be added to paraquat applications in fields planted to corn.
Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Abolish ‘Death Tax’
As reported by USA Rice Daily, U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) last week introduced the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2012 (S. 2242) to abolish the federal estate tax or “death tax.” The bill would eliminate the generational skipping transfer tax, make permanent the maximum 35 percent maximum gift tax rate and provide a $5 million lifetime gift tax exemption.
Sen. Thune’s news release quotes a recent study by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, which found that repealing the death tax would create 1.5 million additional small business jobs and decrease the national unemployment rate by one percent.
Rice-state senators supporting the measure include Sens. John Boozman (R-AR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), David Vitter (R-LA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced identical legislation in the House (H.R. 1259), and the bill currently has more than 200 bipartisan cosponsors, including nearly 20 members from rice districts.
USA Rice Federation has long supported permanent repeal of the estate tax, which would strengthen U.S. agriculture by providing certainty in estate planning for farmers, ranchers and others who pass their operations to the next generation.
For more information, contact Johnny Broussard at (703) 236-1451.
RiceTec Offers New App Update For iPhone/iPad
A completely renovated iPhone/iPad app from RiceTec is available in the App Store. The app is free, and new features to the RiceTec Toolbox app include:
• Integrated grain drill calibration tool
• Drill calibration videos
• Current weather for your location
• Rice market news
• Seeding rate calculator
• Hybrid rice management guidelines
• 2012 product information
The app can be downloaded from iTunes.