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Industry News
Ducks Unlimited hosts nation’s leaders at Capitol Hill Dinner & Auction
Following a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ducks Unlimited (DU) hosted the annual Capitol Hill Dinner and Auction for the first time since 2019. With more than 500 total guests in attendance, including Biden Administration officials, congressional staff, DU leadership and more than 40 bipartisan members of Congress, wetlands conservation was once again the focus of government leaders from across the United States.
“After a few years off, it was wonderful to gather again in the nation’s capital to celebrate wetlands conservation,” said DU CEO Adam Putnam. “DU is incredibly fortunate to have such great friends in Congress on both sides of the aisle who prioritize the conservation of waterfowl habitat and the preservation of America’s cherished outdoor spaces. This event is testament to the hard work of our volunteers and emblematic of our continued success working with Congress to support critical programs, like NAWCA, that will ensure our grandchildren have the same opportunities to experience the outdoors that we enjoy today.”
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) is a voluntary matching grant program that leverages non-federal and federal funds for wetland restoration. Since enactment in 1989, NAWCA has conserved more than 30 million acres and created an average of 7,500 new jobs annually. Every dollar spent by the federal government, on average, receives a $3 match from program partners like Ducks Unlimited. NAWCA is the nation’s most successful wetlands conservation program.
DU hosts the annual Capitol Hill Dinner and Auction every spring in our nation’s capital, welcoming Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and leaders of the current presidential administration, including from the White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior.
For more information, visit www.ducks.org, and be sure to follow DU’s Twitter feed — @DUNews1937 — to get the most up-to-date news from Ducks Unlimited.
RiceTec, a global rice seed company, in partnership with U.S. rice farm — Whitaker Grain — brought SmartRice to market earlier this year on Amazon and has now expanded to be available through Shopify. According to a recent press release, SmartRice is a rice product grown in a more sustainable method to reduce the use of agricultural resources and provide more grain to meet the world’s growing appetite. “Today’s consumers are hungry for sustainability. They’re demanding more environmental common sense out of everything they buy — including the food they put on their tables and the food they feed their pets,” said Tim Williamson, RiceTec marketing director. “That’s precisely what SmartRice delivers.”
SmartRice is grown and distributed by Whitaker Grain, a family owned, fifth generation farm in Arkansas — the U.S. state with the largest rice production. Using highly researched methods, Whitaker Grain uses hybrid rice seed to qualify as a SmartRice product that lowers greenhouse emissions, creates water savings and results in high yields of grain production.
“Rice growing methods such as alternate wetting and drying irrigation and solar energy, along with other methods of conservation, allow us to save on natural resources, yield more rice and provide habitat to waterfowl,” said rice farmer Jim Whitaker.
The release said SmartRice has the smallest carbon footprint of all commercially grown rice, thanks to a higher photosynthetic rate and naturally occurring pest and disease tolerance, requiring less water, nitrogen and pesticides.
Based on an average of farm and state- collected data, SmartRice produces 50% less carbon emissions, yields 20% more per land unit and uses 50% less water than
traditionally grown rice.
SmartRice is successfully selling on Amazon across the country and is now available through Shopify for $13.07 per 2-pound bag. Visit www.smartrice.com for the latest in sales information, farmer videos and additional details.
Arkansas scholarship chance for agriculture majors
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is now accepting scholarship applications from students majoring in agriculture or an agriculture-related field at one of the following universities: Arkansas State University. Southern Arkansas University. The Uninversity of Arkansas System. Arkansas Tech University.
Applications will be accepted through June 1. Go to bit.ly/DeptofAgScholarship.
Scholarship recipients may receive up to $5,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year. Funding for the scholarships comes from civil penalties collected by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
Recipients must have a minimum 2.5 GPA. Selections are based on academmic achievements, character, leadership, career plans and financial need.
Questions regarding the scholarship program can be directed to Amy Lyman at amy.lyman@agriculture.arkansas.gov.
April 2022 California drought statement released
The following information was published by the California Rice Commission:
With a continued lack of sufficient rain and snow to replenish our state’s reservoirs, California’s drought means one thing: less water available for all.
This third year of drought in California will likely lead to an unprecedented agricultural season for farmers across the state, including communities in the Sacramento Valley where farming is a major part of their foundation.
Specific impacts on the rice planting season won’t be known until late May, at the earliest. Long-term drought impacts remain unclear.
“What is certain is this historic drought has made our rural rice farming communities and our wildlife more vulnerable,” remarked California Rice Commission President and CEO Tim Johnson. “Our rice mills, dryers and suppliers will undoubtedly feel the effects of the drought this season.”
With less water on the landscape, natural wildlife habitat is shrinking. The few inches of water used to sustain the nation’s second largest rice-producing state also acts as surrogate wetlands for millions of migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. Nearly 230 wildlife species rely on Sacramento Valley Ricelands for their survival.
“With extreme drought conditions forcing extraordinary challenges for both the wildlife and our farming communities, it is clear that flooded rice fields in the Sacramento Valley are more critical to our environment and our economy than ever before,” said Johnson.
Three icons of Louisiana agriculture were recently inducted into the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction.
The new inductees are former director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service and current chancellor of LSU Alexandria Paul Coreil, of Alexandria; long time Louisiana Radio Network farm broadcaster Don Molino, of Baton Rouge; and Jim Monroe, of Pineville, the former assistant to the president at Louisiana Farm Bureau, where Monroe worked for 47 years.
The Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction is a joint effort of the LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Radio Network, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
It honors individuals who have made significant contributions to agriculture or agriculture-related industries. Previous inductees have represented farming, ranching, forestry, aquaculture, education and agribusiness.
To learn more about the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction, contact Eboni Register with the Louisiana Radio Network at eboni@louisianaradionetwork. com or 225-291-2727.
Dr. Paul Coreil Don Molino Jim Monroe
Texas crawfish acres up
Todd Sink, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension aquaculture specialist and director of the AgriLife Extension Aquatic Diagnostics Lab, Bryan-College Station, said the recent calamities have not deterred growth of crawfish production in Texas. The state added around 2,500 acres of crawfish production over the past three years. This brings the state’s crawfish production capacity to approximately 9,500 acres.
Pounds of crawfish are hard to pin down due to the lack of official reporting, but Sink believes producers average between 750-800 pounds per acre, or 6.75 million to 7.2 million pounds of crawfish.
Around 60% of Texas acres are dual-purpose flooded rice fields that provide habitat for crawfish farming until rice is planted. Those acres produce around 650 pounds of crawfish until they are shut down for rice planting.
Acres dedicated solely to crawfish produce 900-950 pounds per acre and can be harvested a month to six weeks longer than rice acres, Sink said.
Texas ranks No. 2 in crawfish production and remains far behind Louisiana. But he estimates Texas gained about as many acres as Louisiana lost this past year to economic hardship, hurricane damages and invasive apple snail infestations.
“Texas maybe gained 1%-3%, but we are still small apples compared to Louisiana,” he said.
In 2019, Louisiana crawfish farmers harvested 150 million pounds of crawfish from 250,000 acres.
Sink said the popularity of crawfish continues to grow.
A recent article by Aquaculture North America reported crawfish popularity hit a record high this season based on domestic and foreign demand from countries like China.
Most Crop per Drop
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture has been demonstrating Irrigation Water Management Practices on cooperator farms for five years. Experience has shown that when applied effectively, water use can be reduced by 24% on average with no yield penalty.
Reductions in water use of around 40% have been documented. The adoption rate of Computerized Hole Selection is over 40%, indicating that this is now a mainstream practice in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Irrigation Yield Contest is designed to test the knowledge and ability of growers to produce the “Most Crop per Drop.” You may participate in the contest by identifying and irrigating a 30-acre field where water use using a propeller meter or other meter approved by the UADA contest staff is used to measure water use in the irrigated field. Yield is measured by harvesting 3 acres in a skip pattern. Harvest must be completed top to bottom of the field.
Go to https://bit.ly/3ukLKHp to access the entry form and view the complete guidelines for the contest.
The deadline for the entry form is June 30. The meter will need to be sealed before the first irrigation. Call 870-673-2661 to request meter seal at least five days before. Entrants should read the contest rules carefully as the contest is similar to a yield contest but requires water use to be measured in addition to yield.
To enter, print and complete the paper form contest entry or enter by using the Irrigation Contest online entry form. Send the entry form and a check made out to the University of Arkansas for $100 (entry fee) to: Irrigation Yield Contest, University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center, 2900 HWY 130 East, Stuttgart, AR 72160.
Locate a portable flow meter or have an in-place meter approved for use in the contest. The meter must only be used to measure water use during contest. Meters will be sealed to the irrigation system.
Contestants are officially entered only after their entry form has been received and processed by the UADA. Entry forms must be postmarked within 10 days of meter sealing, and no later than June 30. Incomplete entry forms will be disqualified. Contest field locations must be entered on entry forms and boundaries of the field must be identified before any irrigation event, including the flushing of rice fields. The supervisor must certify the beginning meter reading on the entry form.
The University of Arkansas provided this information. Contact contest@uark.edu or call 870-673-2661 for any questions.
Here is the criteria to determine eligibility to enter the contest: • Entries are for rice, soybeans and corn. Irrigated fields only. • Contestant must be a certified FSA owner/operator of the entry plot, and the field must have a history of being irrigated. • A copy of the FSA Form 578, including farm summary, must be submitted with the contest entry form. • Contestants may not enter more than once per crop and per season. • Contestants must be 18 years old at the time of entry. • University of Arkansas employees and spouses are prohibited from entering the contest. • Board members, employees, spouses of the Arkansas Rice
Research and Promotion Board,
Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum
Promotion Board and the Arkansas
Soybean Promotion board are prohibited from entering the contest.
Anticipated awards
• $11,000 seed tote credit for first place winner in flooded rice production system (Cascade, MIRI,
AWD) sponsored by Ricetec. • $7,260 in hybrid seed for second place and $3,740 in hybrid seed for third place sponsored by Ricetec. • $6,000 cash for the first-place winner in corn, $3,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place sponsored by the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Promotion
Board. • $6,000 cash for the first-place winner in soybeans, $3,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place sponsored by the Arkansas
Soybean Promotion Board. • $500 cash from Delta Plastics for each first-place winner. • $500 cash, 4 Watermark sensors and a manual reader from Irrometer for each first-place winner. • Portable Meter from Mccrometer for each first-place winner. • Insertion meter from Seametrics for each first-place winner. • Soil Moisture Monitoring unit (Base and rover) from Trellis for each first-place winner. • Aquatrac soil moisture monitor from Agsense/Valmont for each first-place winner. • CropX 18” sensor and telemetry for each first-place winner. $20,485 in total for each first-place winner in corn, soybeans and rice will be awarded.
It’s not just what we do, it’s who we are.
With our team’s collective 200+ years tied to agricultural production, we believe in what we do. We make it our mission to provide profitable production strategies to our farmers with information to improve their bottom lines. Our seasoned editors cover every stage of production — from land preparation, to seed selection, to crop protection through harvest.
To advertise, contact Sales Manager Scott Emerson at 386-462-1532 To advertise, contact Sales Manager Scott Emerson or semerson@onegrower.com 386-462-1532 · semerson@onegrower.com
Rice
The Nutrient Use Efficiency People.®
For most people, rice is a popular starch choice side dish. But for you, it’s a way of life.
At Verdesian Life Sciences, we understand. That’s why we offer a full portfolio of yield-pushing solutions from seed treatments and fertilizer enhancers to nutrients and biostimulants. Talk to your retailer about how products from Verdesian can help maximizes your profits through plant health.
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