Rusty Hestir
Hestir Rice Service
DeWitt, Ark.
After attending the University of Arkansas, I worked for Ag Plans of DeWitt and later for Rice Management, Inc. of DeWitt before starting my own agriculture consulting business, Hestir Rice Service, in 1992. I mainly specialized in rice, but I have expanded my consulting to rice, soybeans, corn and milo.
2012 was a challenging year due to lack of moisture. We had to flush more fields than normal to maintain adequate stands and activate residual herbicides such as Command, Facet and Prowl. League herbicide also has its place in rice production. Please note: League is like any other residual herbicide – soil moisture is needed for activation throughout the growing season. We had a new combination of chemicals that I found to be helpful – Permit Plus controlled five to six new weeds in rice production. Strada Pro was tough on black-seeded weeds and easy on rice. Grasp Xtra also showed outstanding performance. These herbicides provided very good knockout for tough-to-kill weeds. RebelEX broadened Grasp’s portfolio, so we now pick up sprangletop. It also supplies two modes of action on stubborn barnyardgrass.
Technology has brought a lot of tools to the farmer, such as Cruiser and Nipsit INSIDE insecticide seed treatments. These insecticides protect the rice crop from grape colaspis, rice water weevils and chinch bugs. Because a large portion of rice or hybrids was being planted at very low seeding rates, these seed insecticides are essential. Variety selections are very important now because we have varieties that are not resistant to bacterial panicle blight and other diseases. These varieties should be planted first and then followed up with hybrids, which are more resistant to diseases.
Agriculture has become really diversified. Today, we are raising more than just rice or soybeans. We’ve added into the mix corn, milo and Clearfield rice varieties, which adds a new challenge to the grower and to the consultant in avoiding drift issues. Good communication between growers, consultants and neighbors is very important. We are fortunate in having an industry that has given us tools that enable us to work around difficult situations such as the way that Grasp lets us work around corn. RiceStar HT is also a plus around soybeans and cotton. These are just a few examples of the chemicals that we use in these difficult situations.
Technology has also expanded the yield potential of all crops; therefore, soil fertility is very important. We utilize soil and grid sampling and, throughout the growing year, we utilize nitrate monitoring and tissue testing to ensure that we get the full potential out of each variety of rice.
A farmer once told me – “It’s not how much you have, it’s how well you do with what you’ve got.”
Bio
• Consults on rice, soybeans, corn and milo
• Member of the Arkansas Agriculture Consultants Association (AACA)
• Member of the Arkansas Crop Protection Association (ACPA)
• Member of DeWitt First United Methodist Church
• Married to wife, Carla. Two daughters: Haven and Hara
• Enjoys hunting and spending time with his family and friends on the Arkansas River
Recap: New Tools Prove Helpful To Farmers
1. 2012 was a challenging year due to lack of moisture. We had to flush more fields than normal to maintain adequate stands and
activate residual herbicides.
2. StradaPro was tough on black-seeded weeds and easy on rice. Grasp Xtra also showed outstanding performance. These
herbicides provided very good knockout for tough-to-kill weeds.
3. RebelEX broadened Grasp’s portfolio, so we now pick up sprangletop. It also supplies two modes of action on stubborn barnyardgrass.
4. Insecticide seed treatments protect the rice crop from grape colaspis, rice water weevils and chinch bugs.
5. Hybrids should be planted last because they are more resistant to diseases.
6. We are fortunate in having an industry that has given us tools that enable us to work around difficult situations such as the
way that Grasp lets us work around corn.
7. We utilize nitrate monitoring and tissue testing to ensure that we get the full potential out of each variety of rice.