Farewell, Missouri

I’d like to utilize my space this month to express my appreciation to all readers over the past three years who I’ve been contributing to Rice Farming magazine for. The Specialist Speaking column has been a regular for me from December-May, and while this may be my last specialist column, don’t look for me to go away completely!

I have been in the Extension rice specialist role at the University of Missouri since August of 2021, but by the time you’re reading this article I will have assumed a new role within the industry. I have accepted a position with the University of Arkansas as an assistant professor and research agronomist at the new Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center near Harrisburg, Arkansas. My wife Robyn and I are truly elated to be moving back to Arkansas and just down the road from my hometown of Newport.

Saying goodbye to our Missouri farmers, consultants, industry leaders, colleagues, and neighbors has not been an easy task. We’ve received unwavering support during our time here in Missouri, and I would not trade the past 3.5 years for anything. We’ve been truly blessed in our time here, and I know that my successor will experience the same joys I have experienced. Southeast Missouri — the Bootheel — has some of the best farmers and consultants I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for and with.

While it’s not easy to say goodbye, it’s not a final goodbye. I’ll be just one hour south of the Missouri-Arkansas border, and my phone line is always open! My new position will give me the opportunity to continue the work we are doing in rice, but also to work in other row crops such as soybean and corn. I’m excited to open new doors in row crop research.

My final tagline deserves an emphatic repeating — I am truly beyond blessed to be serving the rice industry in the Mid-South. God has poured so many blessings on Robyn and I that we truly do not deserve. Please reach out to me anytime with comments or questions. To all my friends, eat MO (and AR) rice!

Saddle Up

The 2025 season is sure to be a wild ride, so saddle the horse and get ready to load the wagon. Cultivar selection is going to be an interesting start, as we’re likely going to have to work with what we can get our hands on rather than getting all our preferred choices.

One initial note as we move through the options — from a yield standpoint, a lot of options did really well in 2024, which is great, but it doesn’t always help us separate options in terms of what gives us the greatest dependability and consistent yields. Milling yields are also of increasing concern given the results of the past two seasons, but virtually every option had milling issues this year so there’s no short-term fix for that.

Note that in the table provided at the above this article, the intention was to provide whatever performance data we might have on cultivars that could be an option to be grown this year. In some cases, that means maybe only one year of data, but at least that provides you with one year’s comparison, which is better than nothing.

Following a similar theme as in past years, we’ll start with long-grain conventional (non-herbicide-tolerant) varieties. Ozark and DG263L have multiple years of good performance under their belt and should be solid options. RTv7303 performed well in its first year of wide availability and should be looked to as another option (it’s a variety, not a hybrid).

For conventional hybrids, RT7302 would be the favorite with XP753 still serving as another solid option. For FullPage hybrids, RT7521FP will once again be the most popular with RT7421FP and RT7321FP competitive to be in the mix. For MaxAce hybrids, RT7331MA we’ve seen the most of and it should do well, while one year of data on RT7431MA suggests it’s competitive.

Clearfield varieties really boil down to CLL18 and CLL16 in Arkansas. CLL18 has the highest top-end yield potential, but CLL16 has a little better overall package and appears to be very stable. CLL19 has been competitive at times but has not kept up as well the past two seasons.

For Provisia, PVL04 is the preferred option based on multiple years of data. There will also be limited availability of DG563PVL, which looked very good in one year of testing. There is only one MaxAce variety option, RTv7231MA, with good performance but the early maturity means we have to get it harvested quickly.

While the jury is still out on where the medium-grain market is headed, options on what to grow continue to improve. RT3202 (hybrid) has had the highest yields the past two seasons. Taurus, ProGold M3, and CLM05 appear to be very competitive among varieties. Of note, ProGold M3 seems to have some of the most stable milling yields of anything available.

The 2025 season looks to be a tough one, so we want to spread our risk around, but minimize it at the same time. This is a year to focus on what we think will pencil out the best in the end — to use baseball terms, base hits will be key; sure we’ll take a homerun, but we cannot afford a strikeout.

Review the results of the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials at https://uaex.uada.edu/rice. The provided table shows general performance data, but full details of all sites are provided in the complete published data. Let us know if we can help.

Critical Rice Variety Aspects

Rice breeders are often asked what they look for when making selections. The answer is complex. Rice varieties are composed of many genes that control every function of the individual plant. Some plant traits are controlled by only one gene (simply inherited), while others are controlled by many genes (polygenic).

An example of a simply inherited trait is the presence (pubescence) or absence (glabrous) of leaf hairs. This trait is controlled by a single pair of genes, each inherited from a parent. An example of a polygenic trait is yield. Yield potential is controlled by many genes. In general, the physical expression of polygenic traits is subject to environmental influence. This means even though a plant possesses a complex of genes with potential for high yield, under unfavorable conditions, high yields won’t be realized.

For example, the Avant variety has a high yield potential, but it won’t be realized without adequate nitrogen. Plant breeders face a tremendous challenge in breeding successful varieties. The rice grain of a long-grain variety must have certain dimensions, and the grains must be uniform in size. The height of the plant must be tall enough to provide a structure to support high yield as well as facilitate harvest, but not too tall to be susceptible to lodging. Plant height is another simply inherited trait. But, the expression of that potential is influenced by environmental conditions.

Disease resistance is another breeding objective for rice research station breeders and pathologists. Selecting for this trait requires the presence of the proper disease causal agent. Sheath blight is the most troublesome disease in Louisiana rice production. To facilitate screening for resistance to this disease, the breeder will typically inoculate plots and rows with Rhizoctonia solani, which is the fungal organism that causes this disease. For diseases like rice blast, planting highly susceptible varieties around breeding nurseries will usually assure high disease pressure and eliminate need for inoculation. This illustrates the importance of knowing each disease to create the most favorable environment for effective disease screening.

Milling quality is another aspect of a successful variety. There are numerous factors that influence this. One of the most important is the percentage of whole (unbroken) grains remaining after the milling process. This is an example of a trait with a high level of genetic control but also substantial environmental influence.

Grain shape and uniformity are important. Some rice varieties will have fairly low whole-grain milling yields, regardless of the environment. Others have high milling yields in favorable environments but much lower yields under unfavorable conditions. The grain moisture at harvest can have a significant impact on this characteristic as can the field conditions under which the plants are grown and the conditions under which the grain is artificially dried after harvest. Drying at excessive temperatures can dramatically reduce milling yields. This shows why this trait is a difficult one to select for; the true measure comes when samples are milled.

Another important aspect of grain quality is the amount of chalk present. Chalky rice occurs when part of the grain is whiter than the rest because the starch has not developed properly. This is a point of weakness that can increase breakage during the milling process. Even if the grain does not break, chalky rice is aesthetically unpleasing and can greatly reduce the quality of the rice sample. This is another trait controlled by genetics but also highly influenced by the environment under which the grain develops. Typically, levels of chalk are higher when the rice grain grows under higher temperatures. Some varieties are inherently more resistant to chalk formation even under high temperatures, and their identification is important during the breeding process.

The traits discussed are just a few of the multitude of traits that must be considered when a rice breeder is making selections. Others include seedling vigor, cold tolerance, response to plant growth regulators, cycle, grain shattering, herbicide tolerance or resistance, insect resistance, panicle exertion, seed dormancy, and ratooning characteristics. Putting all these traits together is what keeps rice variety development the most important consideration in rice production.

Newer Varieties Have Fantastic Potential in Texas

It’s no secret choosing the right variety is one of the most important management decisions a grower can make. It’s also no secret it has historically costed more to grow rice in Texas than anywhere else in the South.

To make a long story short, this is a big reason why the overwhelming majority of Texas rice is hybrid. Because of this, Texas rice farmers are in a financial position where the higher yield potential of hybrid rice pencils out best when making this important cropping decision. Couple that with the amount of seed rice our farmers produce for RiceTec, and it’s easy to see why we produce so much hybrid rice. In 2024, our most popular hybrid varieties were RT7301 and XP753.

That being said, it’s still possible to turn a profit growing inbred rice, especially with our ability to ratoon. I would like to highlight some of the newer inbred varieties available that I think will have a major impact on Texas rice production moving forward.

Our most popular inbred grown in 2024 was CL153 as expected. We also had several CLL19 and Avant fields around the state that looked fantastic prior to the hurricane. I could easily see CLL19 replacing CL153 as top inbred contender due to its high and stable yield potential, very good milling potential, and good ratooning potential. It contains the Pita and CRSP2.1 genes, making it resistant to blast and narrow brown leaf spot, respectively. In 2023, CLL19 seed rice fields in Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri averaged a staggering 60 barrels per acre in the main crop.

Avant is a relatively new conventional inbred variety. This very early maturing semi-dwarf, long-grain variety was developed by LSU and averages around 50 barrels per acre with good milling characteristics. Given its early maturity, Avant has fantastic ratoon potential, good main crop yield potential, and contains the CRSP2.1 gene for resistance to narrow brown leaf spot. It has consistently yielded 5%-10% more than Cheniere.

Last of the inbreds, but most certainly not least, are the quizalofop-resistant Provisia and MaxAce rice production systems. I’m perfectly comfortable saying that if barnyardgrass or weedy rice is your main issue, these two systems are among the best grass control options I’ve ever seen in rice. Although current acreage is limited in Texas, I expect acres to pick up over the next several years as varietal development continues to improve with regard to yield.

In several locations this year, we were able to confirm barnyardgrass populations resistant to multiple modes of action, including Regiment (bispyribac), Facet (quinclorac), Newpath (imazethapyr), and Stam M4 (propanil).

Unfortunately, the barnyardgrass issue isn’t going anywhere and will continue to expand, but the Provisia or MaxAce varieties will serve as an excellent foundation for barnyardgrass management strategies moving forward. In addition, these varieties will serve as an excellent replacement to the Clearfield system in fields where weedy rice resistant to Newpath and Beyond has been a problem.

2024 Saw an Uptick in Longer Duration Variety Acreage

In California, most acreage is devoted to high quality, medium-grain varieties. In 2024, over 94% of the acreage was grown to medium grains. Of the medium grain varieties grown, the most widely grown variety was M-206 (27%) followed by M-211 (19%), M-105 (17%), M-209 (16%), M210 (14%), and M-401 (4%).

M-206 is the most widely grown, but it’s been decreasing. This is partly due to the introduction of M-210, which is almost the same as M-206 but with blast resistance. Both have similar yield potential, duration, and environmental and milling yield stability.

When thinking about a short-duration variety, M-105 is an excellent choice. It’s about one to two days earlier than M-206 in the northern part of the valley and three to five days earlier in the southern, cooler parts. It has excellent yield potential and tends to yield highest in our trials located in the southern part of the valley. It’s a good choice to plant early in season in order to get an early start on harvest. M-105 reportedly has a tendency to lodge; however, in our trials, we have not seen a difference between M-105 and M-206.

Interestingly, the acreage planted to long-duration varieties increased in 2024, despite it being a late-planted year. Not considering M-401 (a premium quality variety), 36% of the acreage was planted to M-211 and M-209. This is the most acreage we’ve seen devoted to longer-duration varieties in California. These varieties are about seven to 10 days longer than M-206. Longer duration also indicates a longer period to irrigate and higher water requirements. They also have a higher yield potential than the shorter duration varieties.

While having a higher yield, M-211 is prone to low milling quality when harvested at low moisture contents below 20% or if the field is drained too early. M-209 is sensitive to low nighttime temperatures during booting and not recommended for the cooler areas in the southern part of the valley and in the Delta.

On a positive note, these varieties are less prone to lodging. This is partly due to thicker tillers. Some growers say managing the rice straw in M-211 is harder than other varieties. Where kernel smut is an issue, M-209 is one of the more susceptible medium grains.

On the ROXY front, M-521 has been approved for release. This is California’s first herbicide-resistant variety. However, seed production will not proceed until the herbicide is approved. This may be a while.