Water Management

This time of year, there is a Rice Outlook Conference involving the six states that produce rice. And for most of the California attendees, the top activity for the three days was to watch the weather back home. We had left for the conference after some welcome rain the week previous, and now there was promise of more. A lot more. More than we received in all of 2013. And while the storm wasn’t as “epic” as it was hyped to be, it was a welcome change. The five inches of rain filled rain gauges, helped the decomposition of the remaining rice straw in the fields and filled bypasses and flood plains along the river.

To help manage his rice crop, from winter planning sessions all the way through the season, Rehermann depends on the advice of Eric Benzel, a PCA with Big Valley Ag Services in Gridley. “The members of the family from which...

At certain times of the year, gusty winds howl across California’s Sacramento Valley, known for its rich adobe clay soil and home to the Sutter Buttes, described by many as the smallest mountain range in the world. For generations, farmers have grown rice in this area of the state, and producer Frank Rehermann is no exception. In 1972, fresh from the Navy, Rehermann began his journey as a California rice farmer with the assistance of his father-in-law, Ron Harrington. One piece of property that they farmed was owned by the Righero brothers, who originally began the process of wrestling the unleveled ground with sloughs running through it into good, farmable rice fields. Later, using an old D-7, Rehermann continued straightening the levees throughout the property to achieve greater efficiency. Today, he knows those fields well and has used that knowledge to help shape his rice production strategies. Rehermann has to be mobile because his operation is spread out, encompassing property at Live Oak, the Riceton area and the White Ranch – located on the other side of Richvale – that he began leasing from Minnie May White in 1973. In all, Rehermann farms 900 acres of rice, planting 50 percent to M-206 and the remainder to M-205.

by Jake Onstott PCA, Growers Ag Service, Inc. Yuba City, Calif. I grew up as the third generation in a family of crop dusters, but my love has always been to “play in the dirt.” After deciding that I wasn’t going into...

MS Farm Bureau Internship Opportunity Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) is offering a summer intern program for students who carry at least 12 credit hours and have a minimum junior classification in an agricultural field of study for the 2015...

2014 conditions may influence acreage, production practices By Carroll Smith, Editor Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” Even today, this statement holds true, especially for rice production in the United States. The presence of...

California Rice Commission urges "real people" to communicate about rice during the drought If there is one thing that is associated with rice other than rice straw burning, it is misperceptions about its water use. The common dig that rice...

DR. JOHN SAICHUK LOUISIANA jsaichuk@agcenter.lsu.edu Several years ago I had a farmer in the rice verification program that was very successful growing upland crops, but felt he wanted to learn more about rice production. A few years later, his brother became a...

DR. JOHN SAICHUK LOUISIANA jsaichuk@agcenter.lsu.edu Fertility research is one of the oldest areas of agricultural research, which might insinuate there is little left to investigate. If that were true, we would not get so many questions from growers each year about rice...

By Carroll Smith Editor Editor's note: In the following article, the fields discussed by Ronnie and Michael Aguzzi and Earl Kline are on straight levee, land-leveled ground. The South typically enjoys an abundant water supply with its many rivers, lakes, ponds and...

DR. JARROD T. HARDKE ARKANSAS Rice Extension Agronomist University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture jhardke@uaex.edu “Do I have an adequate water supply to irrigate the rice acreage I intend to grow?” This should be one of the first questions a rice grower asks before the...

Missouri farmer finds a new way to bring rice into the rotation BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Dennis Robison, who farms in the Missouri Bootheel, is typically in a 50/50 rotation between rice and soybeans on 2,600 acres. For the most part, this...

Careful planning and an experienced staff are keys to success BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR Sam and Jim Whitaker grew up farming with their mother and father, then took over the operation when their father retired. All total, this past year marked the...

MSU showcases BMPs, making farms models of sustainability By Bonnie Coblentz MSU Ag Communications Much of agriculture’s success depends on effective water management, which must be done to keep both farmland and surrounding areas healthy. Agriculture was a $6.7 billion industry...

Dr. John Saichuk Louisiana jsaichuk@agcenter.lsu.edu Last year I wrote an article on water management on March 29. Following is most of the first paragraph of that article. I had no idea at the time of how much of it would be accurate...