Combination seed treatments may kill two weevils with one blow. • By Vicky Boyd, Editor • A weevil that prefers drier ground and typically frequents rice levees has begun damaging furrow-irrigated rice, thanks in part to a lack of permanent flood in the upper portions of the fields. At the same time, producers of row rice — as the system ... Read More »
Arkansas appears headed toward a further increase in furrow-irrigated rice acres in 2019. This production practice is finding a substantial rotational fit for growers to save on land management costs, primarily associated with expenses related to tillage. Ultimately, there are some important management considerations that go with this unique and evolving production practice compared to our traditional delayed-flood rice management. ... Read More »
• By Jeff Gore • The 2019 planting season has gotten off to a rough start with all of the rain. Today (Thursday, May 9), we have gotten well over 4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours in Stoneville, Mississippi, and a lot of the Delta has gotten similar amounts. As a result, a lot of fields have ... Read More »
• By Luis Espino • Over the winter, I gave a few presentations that touched on armyworms. In the presentations, I usually had pictures of adult armyworms. Several comments I got after the presentations made me realize that armyworm adult moths sometimes are confused with other moths or butterflies that are seen in abundance at certain times of the year. ... Read More »
• By Luis Espino • The first set of traps were set up on April 19, and more traps are being set up as fields get ready for planting. So far, seven sites have been set up. As you know, there are two species of armyworms that are found in rice, the true armyworm and the western yellowstriped armyworm. Surprisingly, ... Read More »
This year, the Acadia Parish Louisiana State University AgCenter will again be hosting the Acadia / LSU South Farm Field Day, June 12, beginning at 8:30 a.m. We will have LSU AgCenter rice and soybean specialists give talks regarding rice varieties, agronomics, state update, rice diseases, rice insects, rice herbicides and soybean production. Most presentations, like in years past, will ... Read More »
• By Luis Espino, UC Rice Farming Systems Adviser, Butte and Glenn counties • The California armyworm monitoring season has started. The first traps were set April 19, and two more sites were set up on April 30. More traps will be set up in the following weeks as growers finish their ground work and get ready for planting. Interestingly, ... Read More »
• By Blake Wilson and Sebe Brown • Populations of pest insects are often influenced by factors at play well before crops are planted. Winter mortality is a key regulator of spring insect populations, particularly for pests introduced from tropical regions. The 2018-2019 winter was mild, especially in the southern half of the state, where temperatures didn’t dip below a ... Read More »
• 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 rice water weevil studies on 11 on-farm sites across the Mississippi Delta. Each location had a furrow-irrigated field compared ... Read More »
The hot, dry conditions of 2018 were the poster child for difficulty establishing a timely flood to incorporate nitrogen (N) fertilizer. To achieve consistently high yields, timely application and incorporation of preflood N is the most critical input in rice. Luck always helps, of course. The DD50 Rice Management Program (http://DD50.uaex.edu) is critical for timing preflood N. Originally developed to ... Read More »
Rice Farming A One Grower Publication