Rice farming march 2017 by One Grower Publishing

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PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

Trials show AWD saves water without affecting yields Weedy rice expansion in California raises concern

Say ‘hello’ to MIRI Multiple-inlet system uses software, poly tubing to boost irrigation

MARCH 2017

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March 2017

COLUMNS

Vol. 51, No. 4

COV ER STORY

4 From The Editor Laissez les bons temps rouler

5 USA Rice Update

Ag secretary nominee brings a Southern-oriented Farm Bill background.

DEPA RTM EN TS 20 Specialist Speaking Watch for the ‘Eddie Haskell’ of nitrogen loss

ON THE COVER: Growers who adopt multiple-inlet rice irrigation, or MIRI, can save up to 25 percent on water use compared with conventional flood irrigation. Photo by Mike Hamilton, University of Arkansas/Natural Resources Conservation Service irrigation educator

ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

MARCH 2017

Mix it up Rotate control methods, crops to slow PPO resistance

Irrigation study pits furrow vs. flood

The Soybean South supplement follows page 12 in the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas versions of Rice Farming.

GET CONNECTED Stay up-to-date with the latest from Rice Farming. www.facebook.com/ ricefarming1 Follow us on Twitter: @RiceFarming Subscribe to One Grower Publishing on YouTube

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Say ‘hello’ to MIRI Multiple-inlet rice irrigation, or MIRI, relies on poly tubing and Pipe Planner software to boost water-use efficiency while reducing overall use.

FEATUR ES 6 Simple economics With an imbalance between supply and demand, lower production and supplies will be needed in 2017 to strengthen prices.

8 ‘Red’ alert Weedy rice expansion in California raises concern, prompting calls for using only certified seed and an industry-wide scouting effort.

13 Research-proven savings Three years of on-farm trials show alternate wetting and drying—or AWD—saves water and energy without affecting yields.

14 Fertilizer friendly Alternate wetting and drying system doesn’t hinder nitrogen applications.

16 Industry on ‘life support’ Improved quality, lower rice prices elsewhere challenge U.S. exports.

17 The ‘Rice Checker’ Simple, farmer-built gauge helps augment water management.

18 A wake-up call Fungicide-resistant sheath blight in Louisiana should reinforce the need to follow sound resistancemanagement practices in both rice and soybeans. MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

From The Editor

Laissez les bons temps rouler The Cajun French have an expression, “Laissez les bons temps rouler,” which means “let the good times roll.” And nowhere do the good times roll more than during Mardi Gras, regardless of where the parades and parties are held. Historically a Louisiana celebration, it has spread to towns in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Texas Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras, known as Carnival in some countries, dates back centuries to when people would gorge themselves and celebrate excessively before Lent, the 40 days of penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Vicky Boyd During Lent, they would fast and eat only fish. Editor Depending on the year, Mardi Gras also may coincide with when south Louisiana’s crawfish season is in full production. For many rice producers, crawfish are an integral rotation and part of their farms’ portfolios. Much like people elsewhere may hold family barbecues on the weekend, many Louisiana residents hold crawfish boils. Because crawfish are considered seafood, demand for the crustaceans also increases significantly during Lent. The Mardi Gras tradition was brought to the New World in 1699 when French explorers Iberville and Bienville landed near what is now New Orleans, La. They held a small celebration on a spot they dubbed Point du Mardi Gras. Over the years, Mardi Gras in many places has evolved from one day to more than 10 days of parades with ornately decorated floats, glittery costumes, masks or painted faces, and bead tossing. The over-indulgence and debauchery hasn’t been lost, either. A handful of towns, including Eunice and Mamou, La., have held onto oldtime Mardi Gras celebrations. Ornate and glitzy costumes are replaced with more traditional homemade fringed attire and rustic masks. These towns hold a Courir de Mardi Gras, where participants on foot, on horseback or riding on trailers make a ceremonial procession to gather rice, onions and other food items to make a big pot of gumbo. The main attraction involves chasing a live chicken, which can lead sometimes drunken revelers stumbling through mud and other entertaining obstacles. In olden days, the chicken also went into the gumbo. Even in towns that have embraced a more modern Mardi Gras celebration, many of the parades and events are still designed to bring the community together. In Lafayette, for example, the Krewe of Rio—the first parade of the 11day Mardi Gras season—is known for its family friendly atmosphere. Bedecked in sparkly costumes and wearing wigs, float riders throw pounds and pounds of beads to the screaming audience, some of whom hold up bulls-eye signs or come prepared with fishing bait nets. Now that sounds like more fun than chasing a chicken through the mud – and a whole lot cleaner, too.

RiceFarming EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION Editor Vicky Boyd 209-505-3612 vlboyd@onegrower.com Copy Editor Amanda Huber ahuber@onegrower.com Art Director Ashley Kumpe akumpe@onegrower.com

ADMINISTRATION Publisher/Vice President Lia Guthrie 901-497-3689 lguthrie@onegrower.com Associate Publisher Carroll Smith 901-326-4443 csmith@onegrower.com Sales Manager Scott Emerson 386-462-1532 semerson@onegrower.com Circulation Manager Charlie Beek 847-559-7324 Production Manager Kathy Killingsworth 901-767-4020 kkillingsworth@onegrower.com For circulation changes or change of address, call 847-559-7578

ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC Mike Lamensdorf President/Treasurer Lia Guthrie Publisher/Vice President ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS — One Grower Publishing LLC also publishes COTTON FARMING, THE PEANUT GROWER, SOYBEAN SOUTH and CORN SOUTH magazines. RICE FARMING (ISSN 0194-0929) is published monthly January through May, and December, by One Grower Publishing LLC, 6515 Goodman Road, Box 360, Olive Branch, MS 38654. Periodicals postage paid at Memphis, TN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to OMEDA COMMUNICATIONS, CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX 1388, NORTHBROOK, IL 60065-1388. Annual subscriptions are $25.00. International rates are $55.00 Canada/Mexico, $90.00 all other countries for AirSpeeded Delivery. (Surface delivery not available due to problems in reliability.) $5.00 single copy. All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. RICE FARMING is a registered trademark of One Grower Publishing LLC, which reserves all rights granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in association with its registration.

Vicky

Send comments to: Editor, Rice Farming Magazine, 6515 Goodman Road, Box 360, Olive Branch, MS 38654. Call 901-767-4020 or email vlboyd@onegrower.com.

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

One Grower Publishing, LLC 6515 Goodman Road, Box 360, Olive Branch, MS 38654 Phone: 901-767-4020

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USA Rice

Update

Agriculture and the Trump Administration The rice industry faces challenges ahead, but Ag Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue brings a Southern-oriented Farm Bill background.

WIKIPEDIA

he Trump candidacy may well have changed campaigning forever. And By Betsy Ward the Trump Administration is, as President and CEO promised, turning Washington on USA Rice its head. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that “the swamp” has actually been drained, but I would say many of the usual power players are not central to the Trump decision-making machine. And prognosticators are at a loss (or just swinging wildly.) USA Rice, like I think most of agriculture, felt very uneasy during the transition when there was a parade of nominees for every agency and sub-agency except for the Department of Agriculture. When President Trump finally named former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as his nominee, we breathed a sigh of relief. In him we see someone with a deep understanding of commodity crops, and once confirmed, he will be one of only three U.S. secretaries of agriculture who has worked in agriculture as an adult. That’s an important fact. Also important is that Perdue has a strong history of supporting trade, especially If confirmed, Secretary of Agriculture for agriculture. That’s comnominee and former Georgia Gov. Sonny forting since much of the Perdue will have to deal with developing a rhetoric coming out of the 2018 Farm Bill. White House has angered important trading partners. But let’s be serious—for rice, they’re all important. Half our annual crop is exported, so few commodities depend on trade like we do. It will be interesting to see how and if Secretary Perdue can temper the White House. We need him to. Work cut out for us We also need him to help focus the president’s attention on the coming Farm Bill. As a wealthy real estate developer who grew up Twitter: @RiceFarming

in New York City, I’m guessing the president is not as familiar with ag as he is with some other aspects of our economy. As a grower said to me last month, “How many farms can you see from the top of Trump Tower?” The answer is none—even on a clear day. But the president needs to heed the fact that overwhelmingly rural America just hired him. He won 76 percent of the counties with a Cracker Barrel in them, while only taking 22 percent of the counties with a Whole Foods in them. We’re going to have our work cut out for us to not only educate the president on the value of ag trade—billions of dollars and millions of rural jobs and economies—but also on the unique challenges we face. The regulatory and policy framework the president and his ag team establish can either ensure we flourish as a sector, including featuring science-based regulations and support for agriculture research and innovation, or can set us on a course of rising consumer prices and more food imports. And that comes, frankly, with weaker environmental and sustainability safeguards, because nobody does it like we do. It’s equally important we have a strong safety net program, and as we all know, what works for many commodities doesn’t work for rice. As a southerner, Perdue knows that, and he also knows the policies put in place for rice in the last Farm Bill work well and need to be kept in place. With weak prices at home and the possibility of our overseas markets being impacted by trade policies designed more to help manufacturing at the expense of agriculture, we need those sound policies now more than ever. Agriculture got off to a slow and bumpy start in the Trump Administration, but it’s not too late to smooth things out. The experienced hand and keen vision of Perdue should help us get there. MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

VICKY BOYD

Long-grain rice supplies have increased by more than 16 percent from the previous year while export sales so far this marketing year are 3 percent lower for long-grain rough exports and 28 percent lower for long-grain milled exports.

Simple economics With an imbalance between supply and demand, lower production and supplies will be needed in 2017 to strengthen prices. By Kurt Guidry

he rice market in Louisiana and much of the Southern rice-growing states continues to be pressured with large supplies and uneven demand. This has resulted in a stagnant market with prices in Louisiana trading in the same tight range for much of the 2016/17 marketing year. The release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report on Feb. 9 will likely not provide any momentum to the market with the only change made being a reduction in long-grain rice export estimates. If anything, the report has likely made it more difﬁcult for prices to make any sustained movement higher. The issue for the 2016/17 marketing year is simply a situation of supply and demand imbalance. Long-grain rice supplies have increased by more than 16 percent from the previous year while export sales thus far in the marketing year are 3 percent lower for long-grain rough exports and a whopping 28 percent lower for long-grain milled exports.

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

Although the pace of export sales has improved over the past couple of months, a lack of purchases from traditional customers like Iran and Iraq and a slower pace of sales to other customers like Columbia continue to create uncertainty about export demand moving forward. How many acres will Arkansas plant? Without demand providing a spark for the market, the potential for lower production and supplies in 2017 will likely have to lead the way for any price strengthening. The general market consensus is that acres will fall in 2017. While acres are projected down for states like Texas, Mississippi and Missouri, they probably don’t represent enough decrease to create a signiﬁcant price move. A lack of alternative crops in South Louisiana and the lure of planting rice on generic acres in North Louisiana will mean only marginal changes in acres in 2017. Therefore, the ability of prices to experience signiﬁcant improvement will likely depend on acreage movement in Arkansas.

Early reports suggest Arkansas acres falling to as low as 1 million to 1.1 million acres from the nearly 1.6 million acres planted in 2016. Although it seems likely that acres in Arkansas will fall, it is still difﬁcult to fully project them dropping below the ﬁve-year average of about 1.3 million acres. A reduction of U.S. rice plantings around the 300,000-acre level would hopefully provide enough support to move prices from their current $15 to $16 per barrel ($9.25 to $9.90 per cwt) range. A logical projection for the 2017 crop with that level of acreage reduction would be $17 to $18 per barrel ($10.50 to $11.10 per cwt). Any potential for prices much above that range will likely require a larger reduction in U.S. acres in 2017 and/or a major weather event hampering world rice production. Dr. Kurt Guidry is an agricultural economist with Louisiana State University’s AgCenter. Contact him at KMGuidry@ agcenter.lsu.edu. RICEFARMING.COM

Strive For Early Season Weed Control Joey Branch ProAg Services LLC Newport, Ark.

As soon as I could legally drive a truck, Arkansas crop consultant Danny Moore hired me to work for him, which I did for 10 years. We checked a lot of rice during that time. In 2008, I joined ProAg Services LLC, an independent consulting business owned by Brent Lassiter, in Newport, Ark. Last year was rough for Arkansas rice farmers. We had high expectations early in the season and then experienced a lot of heat in July when the rice was heading, which resulted in a number of blanks. In August, we were hit with cool temperatures and cloudy, rainy weather for two solid weeks. This July/August roller coaster ride caused yield and quality losses at harvest. Two weeds that challenge us the most are barnyardgrass and sprangletop. Much of the barnyardgrass is resistant to multiple chemistries, and sprangletop is difficult to control. We also have to make adjustments to our herbicide game plan where we have isolated cases of ALS herbicide-resistant rice flatsedge. At planting, we start stacking residual herbicides with a clomazone and quinclorac tankmix to get out in front of barnyardgrass and sprangletop. At the two- to three-leaf growth stage of rice, if soil moisture is good and temperatures are moderate, we apply RebelEX. This herbicide has done a good job of controlling those hard-to-kill weeds. We’ve seen up to 14 days residual control of barnyardgrass with RebelEX. If we are able to spray it in May on an 80-degree day as opposed to a 95-degree day or higher in June or July, RebelEX really shines. Weeds are more susceptible to the herbicide in an early environment under the right conditions. Clincher also has a good fit early in the season. Whether we spray Clincher or RebelEX depends on the weed spectrum. If grass and broadleaf weeds, such as coffeebean and indigo, are in the field, we apply RebelEX. If just barnyardgrass, sprangletop and/or signalgrass are present, we pull the trigger with Clincher. We apply Grasp Xtra right before flood, which often helps us avoid making a mid-season herbicide application. As a consultant and an agronomist, I like to be prepared. A critical part of pre-season planning is communicating with neighboring farmers. It’s helpful to exchange planting intentions about what crops will be in what fields. If it’s rice, find out if it will be Clearfield or conventional. This information will save a lot of headaches when it comes time to spray rice in April and May. And although planning is important, don’t be afraid to deviate from the plan if extenuating circumstances arise. So far, this year is reminiscent of the 2012 season, which would be a good one to replicate. As a man of faith, I find strength in believing God is in control of things, will protect us and ultimately give us what we need.

• B.S., agriculture business with an emphasis on marketing and management, Arkansas State University • Beginning his 10th season with ProAg Services LLC, an independent consulting business owned by Brent Lassiter • Consults on rice, cotton, soybeans, corn, wheat and grain sorghum • American Society of Agronomy Certified Crop Adviser • Arkansas Certified Crop Adviser • Married to wife, Jennifer. Two children: daughter Josie, 8; and son Tate, 4 • Enjoys deer and duck hunting, spending time with the family and being outdoors

Recap: Strive For Early Season Weed Control t 1. At planting, we start stacking residual herbicides with a clomazone and quinclorac tankmix to get out in front of barnyardgrass and sprangletop. 2. At the two- to three-leaf growth stage of rice, if soil moisture is good and temperatures are moderate, we apply RebelEX and have seen up to 14 days residual control of barnyardgrass with it. 3. Clincher also has a good fit early in the season. If grass and broadleaf weeds, such as coffeebean and indigo, are in the field, we apply RebelEX. If just barnyardgrass, sprangletop and/or signalgrass are present, we pull the trigger with Clincher. 4. Applying Grasp Xtra right before flood often helps us avoid making a mid-season herbicide application.

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®™ DOW Diamond, Clincher, Grasp and RebelEX are trademarks of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow. Clincher, Grasp SC, Grasp Xtra and RebelEX are not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.

‘Red’ alert Weedy rice expansion in California raises concern, prompting calls for using only certified seed and an industry-wide scouting effort By Vicky Boyd Editor

Plant only certified seed Kent McKenzie, director of the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, updated attendees on state seed regulations and reiterated the need to plant only certified seed each season. In fact, saving seed from year to year violates plant protection and state seed laws, he says. All of the varieties from the RES are plant variety protected under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As such, owners of PVP varieties can manage the use of them. In this case, the Rice Experiment Station requires only certified seed from its PVP varieties be planted. More recent RES varieties also are patented, providing more enforcement leverage. In addition, all seed handlers must be registered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “Why? Because CDFA is going to help us crack down on this,” McKenzie says. “If you sell non-certified RES varieties,

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

VICKY BOYD

weedy rice infestation exploded in California from a handful of confirmed fields in prior years to covering more than 10,000 acres in 2016, worrying some farmers that it could jeopardize the state’s reputation for quality. “I’m very concerned about it,” says Don Bransford, a Colusa County rice producer. “We’ve had it under control in California for years. That’s why we have high-quality premium rice, and this could just degrade the quality of rice we sell.” At recent UCCE winter rice meetings, Whitney Brim-DeForest, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser, provided some identifying traits and management tools as well as tried to dispel myths surrounding the pest. University of California Cooperative Extension showed off the five different biotypes of weedy rice at the annual California Rice Field Day in Biggs in August 2016. The heads were bagged to prevent seed escapes.

you’re in violation of state seed law. You risk contaminating your fields and customers’ seed fields and you’re violating state laws.” Except for the newest releases, such as M-209, he says there’s more than enough certified seed to go around. The station has enough certified seed of Calrose-types to cover about 650,000 acres, significantly more than the roughly 564,000 acres planted in 2016. To help protect the station’s seed, McKenzie says each lot is first tested using a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide. The liquid will turn red if it encounters weedy rice seed. History of weedy rice In 2006, farm advisers identified four fields infested with weedy rice in two

counties. Between 2008 and 2015, several suspect samples were submitted to the RES for testing. In 2016, the number of infested fields exploded, totaling 60 and covering 10,000 acres. “This is where it gets a little scary,” Brim-DeForest says. “It’s a lot worse than we thought.” The infested fields comprise about 2 percent of the state’s overall acreage, but she points out those are fields experts know about. Many other fields could possibly be infested but haven’t yet been identified. The infestations also have been found in all of the state’s rice-producing counties except for Sacramento County. In a non-scientific electronic poll of the 100 mostly growers and pest control advisers at the Colusa meeting, 29 percent RICEFARMING.COM

said they suspected weedy rice in at least one of their fields.

Prevention is the best cure As with most pests, prevention is the best option. Brim-DeForest reiterated the need to plant only certified seed and not save seed from season to season. She also emphasized the need to clean equipment coming onto and leaving your farm. If you do have infested fields, perform cultural practices on the clean fields first, saving the infested ones for last. After harvest, Brim-DeForest warned against tilling, since that could bury the seed. Although burning has been promoted as a way to decrease seed beds, she says

the temperature must be extremely hot to be effective. Whether winter flooding affects weedy rice seed viability is unknown. In the spring, no-tilling is preferred. If possible, fallowing or rotating to other crops is recommended. Stale seedbed also may be used to help reduce populations. During the season, hand rogue weedy rice plants before they go to head. Once they’ve headed, roguing could cause shattering, spreading the seeds. Complete best management practices for weedy rice are available on the UC website, http:// rice.ucanr.edu/files/243766.pdf. The more eyes, the better Brim-DeForest called on all growers and pest control advisers to keep their eyes peeled for the pest. “This year, we’d really like to have everybody help,” she says. “The more folks we have out there looking for it, the better it is. If you suspect it, report it.” If growers or PCAs suspect weedy rice, Brim-DeForest says they should remove the suspect plants and call their local farm adviser, who will take samples for testing. The results will be returned to the PCA or grower, whose information will be kept confidential.

TIMOTHY BLANK, CALIFORNIA CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

What is ‘weedy’ rice? Despite some popular beliefs, weedy rice is not a cross or hybrid between commercial rice and watergrass. In fact, Brim-DeForest says, the two species are not closely related and cannot hybridize in the field. Weedy rice is the same species – Oryza sativa – as commercially grown rice, just a wild or feral relative. As a result, the state takes no regulatory actions and does not quarantine infested fields. Weedy rice also may be referred to as red rice or weedy red rice. But because weedy rice is the same species as commercial rice, any herbicide that kills weedy rice also will kill the commercial crop, Brim-DeForest says. University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisers and university experts have identified at least five different weedy rice biotypes. The source or sources are still being debated, and Brim-DeForest says she hopes that by 2018 genetic testing will shed light on the origin. Although some biotypes have awns,

darker colored bran or are taller in stature than commercial rice varieties, visual traits aren’t always accurate identification keys. At least one biotype actually is shorter than commercial rice. UCCE has developed a photo-identification brochure available for download at http://rice. ucanr.edu/Weedy_Red_Rice/. What all five biotypes do have in common is they shatter readily in the field, potentially decrease yields and increase milling costs. In the South, where weedy rice is endemic, untreated heavy infestations may reduce yields by up to 60 percent, she says.

Four of the five biotypes of weedy rice are taller than commercial rice. If you suspect weedy rice, contact your local farm adviser. Twitter: @RiceFarming

MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

Say ‘hello’ to MIRI Multiple-inlet rice irrigation relies on poly tubing and Pipe Planner software to boost water-use efficiency while reducing overall use. By Vicky Boyd Editor

cott Matthews, a rice producer south of Jonesboro, Ark., experimented with multiple-inlet rice irrigation about 10 years ago, had a couple of self-described disasters and gave up on it. He revisited the irrigation technique— nicknamed MIRI—in 2015, this time with the help of Mike Hamilton, a University of Arkansas Extension/Natural Resources Conservation Service irrigation educator. Matthews installed it on three fields in 2015 and had such success that he converted all but one rice field over to MIRI in 2016. “The thing that really sold me on it was Mike made it efficient for me,” Matthews says. “We had a calibrated design prior and we were close, and we tweaked it and it worked. That’s allowing me to expand it across more of my operation.” Steve Craig, who farms rice near Marked Tree, Ark., also is a MIRI convert, although he made the switch more than a decade ago. Hamilton conducted research on Craig’s farm, comparing two fields with MIRI to one conventionally irrigated field. The results were part of Hamilton’s master’s degree thesis. But they also showed Craig the benefits of using poly tubing to flood up all of the paddies within a field at once. The very same year, Craig installed MIRI on all of his fields and hasn’t looked back. “There’s just no comparison because you’re putting the water out right where you need it and when you need it,” he says. On average, producers who have adopted

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

MIRI use about 25 percent less water compared to conventionally irrigated fields, Hamilton says. That doesn’t count other benefits, such as a reduced cold-water effect, and improved fertilizer and Mike Hamilton herbicide efficiency because all the paddies in a field are being irrigated at the same time. As a result, the producer achieves a shallow flood across more acres. What is MIRI? In a traditional rice field, water is pumped into the top of the field and through gravity feed cascades from paddy to paddy through levee gates until it reaches the bottom paddy. A large head pressure is needed to push the water through the field, and it may take several days to get water to the lowest checks. At the same time, the irrigator is moving levee and spill gates up or down to control water levels within each paddy as it flows downhill. Take a field with 23 levees, Hamilton says as an example. That amounts to up to 46 gates that must be adjusted each irrigation if producers install them on both sides of a field. But with MIRI, each paddy in a field is flooded up simultaneously. Once irrigators have adjusted the gates early in the season for the proper water level within each paddy, they can leave them pretty much untouched until draining before harvest. Irrigators initially raise the gates 1 to 2 RICEFARMING.COM

MIKE HAMILTON, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS/NRCS

Twitter: @RiceFarming

MARCH 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ RICE FARMING

Putting the math to MIRI Calibrating and setting up a multiple-inlet system is based on well output, which dictates tubing size and number of holes punched, Hamilton says. If growers don’t have a flow meter to measure well output, then can borrow one from county Extension offices if they farm in Arkansas or from NRCS offices in many other regions of the Mid-South. Growers also need to know their field sizes as well as levee placements so individual paddy sizes can be determined. Knowing the fall of the field also is helpful. “The more information, the better,” Hamilton says. All of this is fed into Pipe Planner, a free software program from Delta Plastics. It calculates the diameter of the tubing needed. Essentially, 12-inch-diameter tubing is for wells with an output of 1,200 gallons per minute or less; 15-inch tubing for wells producing 1,200-2,200 gpm; and 18-inch tubing for production of 2,200-plus gpm. “But run the program and see the pressure before you purchase your tubing and put it to use,” Hamilton warns. Pipe Planner also recommends how many holes to punch per paddy. What works best is to include at least one 2½inch blue gate for each paddy, he says. With a sliding closure, blue gates allow users to fine-tune water flow. “You might have different soil types in different paddies and they may require a

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

VICKY BOYD

inches to catch the free moisture—known as freeboarding—to take advantage of rainfall while being sure not to have them raised higher than the levee can safely hold. But they typically don’t have to worry about bottom levees being blown out by a surge of water from the upper paddies unless a large rainstorm happens, in which case neither system can tolerate it. Although some may believe MIRI provides an overall labor savings, Hamilton says that isn’t necessarily true. More labor is needed to lay the tubing and adjust the gates early in the season. Once everything is set, labor requirements are minimal until just before harvest, when workers must remove the used tubing from the fields. Matthews agrees. “Putting it out and picking it up is tough. But what you get is peace of mind, the efficiency, just everything you get between those times is well worth it. Once you get it set up, it’s the easiest irrigation I’ve ever done.”

Growers attending the 2016 University of Arkansas Rice Expo outside of Stuttgart check out a tow-behind rig that digs a small “V” trench and lays poly tubing all in one pass.

few more gallons per minute,” Hamilton says of the adjustments afforded the blue gates. The holes and the gates should be put in the top of the tubing, which reduces the chances of it moving. Many growers also dig a small trench in which to lay the tubing, further preventing it from “walking” away when water is turned on and off. Some growers have even installed barriers, such as rebar or PVC pipe driven into the ground, to further hold the tubing in place. Hamilton recommends running water and filling the tubing before putting in any type of restraints. Continual improvement Although weather caused some tough challenges for rice in 2016, Matthews says

he was pleased with his yields, all things considered, and attributed it to MIRI. “I think it helped us maintain that (water) level we want to maintain during that really high use period,” Matthews says. “I think it preserved our nitrogen a little bit better than flood irrigation. And it seems like our rice was more consistent in moisture from top to bottom.” As he has done in the past, Matthews in 2016 noted observations in each field throughout the season and shot images with his smartphone to document what he saw. After the season ended, he reviewed the information to determine improvements for this season—“maybe change the size of a few holes,” Matthews said, thinking out loud.

For more information on Pipe Planner and MIRI, contact your county Extension agent or local NRCS office. The University of Arkansas has released the Rice Irrigation app for Android, iPhone and iPad as an easy way for growers to develop a MIRI plan. The app is available for free download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. In addition, the University of Arkansas and Mississippi State University, in conjunction with Delta Plastics, are making a short educational video on MIRI for release in the coming months. Hamilton also has prepared a four-page MIRI tips sheet available for download at http://bit.ly/2k4N2js. RICEFARMING.COM

Research-proven savings Three years’ of on-farm trials show alternate wetting and drying— or AWD—saves water and energy without affecting yields. By Jason Krutz and Dan Roach

Summary Data: Rice Yield Bu/acre

Water Use Acre-in

WUI Bu/acre-in

Profitability $

Conventional

165 a

34.3 a

4.8c

500 b

MSI

168 a

28.7 b

5.8 b

526 a

MSI-AWD

166 a

23.4 c

7.1 a

530 a

N = 18 farms; Conventional exceeded permitted value 45%; Side inlet exceeded 26%; Alternate wetting and drying exceeded 6% Mississippi State University

Data tell the story Results from the 2014-2016 trails are summarized in the chart. Included are the yield and water-use data for each grower location as well as an average of all data. The fields irrigated with conventional levee gates had an average water use of 34.3 acre-inches. The use of multiple-inlet reduced water use by 5.6 acre-inches with an average of 28.7 Twitter: @RiceFarming

PHOTOS BY MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

lternate wetting and drying, or AWD, is a water-saving technology that farmers can use to reduce the amount of irrigation water used in rice fields without a yield penalty. In AWD, farmers allow the flood water to recede to a “muddy” state before re-flooding the field. The number of days of non-flooded soil between irrigations can vary from one day to more than five days depending on soil type, weather and crop growth stage. This process lowers the total time pumping in addition to capturing rainfall. Since 2014, the Mississippi State University irrigation team has implemented 18 farmer “on-farm” AWD irrigation trials. Each farmer agreed to irrigate his field conventionally through levee gates and multiple inlet, as well as an additional multiple-inlet field using AWD. The farmer began irrigation on the conventional and multiple inlet fields, while the MSU researcher scheduled irrigation on the multiple inlet AWD field. The MSU researcher allowed the field to drain to a muddy state using a Pani pipe to assist his observations before making the decision to irrigate. Having the Pani pipe installed in the field allowed the researcher to monitor the water level to 4 inches below the soil surface. Weather forecasts were also used in the decision making process. The conventional and multiple-inlet fields held “at capacity” or a 4-inch flood permitted rainfall to become runoff. Using AWD allowed for capture of precipitation.

Under the alternate wetting and drying system, or AWD, water is pulled and fields allowed to dry out until a ‘muddy’ state before the permanent flood is reapplied.

Having a Pani pipe, or field water tube, installed in the field allowed researchers to monitor the water level to 4 inches below the soil surface.

acre-inches used. Through AWD, we were able to further reduce water use by an average of 10.9 acre-inches over the conventional fields. This resulted in an average water savings of $30 per acre over the conventionally irrigated field. Our on-farm data indicate that multiple-inlet AWD maintains yield potential of conventionally irrigated systems while significantly reducing water use. These results should give farmers the confidence in the water-saving best management practices they can implement on their individual farms. Dr. Jason Krutz is an Extension irrigation specialist based at Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Miss. He may be reached at ljk81@msstate. edu. Dan Roach is an Extension associate at the DREC. He may be reached at dan.p.roach@msstate.edu. MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

Fertilizer friendly Alternate wetting and drying system doesn’t hinder nitrogen applications. By Bonnie A. Coblentz

The importance of nitrogen Bobby Golden, Extension rice specialist, explains the importance of nitrogen in any rice growing system. “Nitrogen is the No. 1 nutrient input needed to maximize rice yield in most situations,” Golden says. “Research data show you can apply 100 percent of the nitrogen fertilizer requirement preflood, hold that flood for three weeks, and yields will be optimal. “If the preflood nitrogen rate is misapplied, mistimed or mismanaged, you can recoup some yield with a midseason application.” Nitrogen is applied to rice fields as urea, a granule subject to losses through volatization if not incorporated quickly into the soil. Golden says urea is incorporated in rice fields with the flood water. Adding a urease inhibitor allows growers additional time to establish a perma-

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

new way of growing rice keeps costs down while maintaining yields, and Mississippi State University researchers say the method does not hinder application of a key fertilizer. Alternate wetting and drying, or AWD, is a method for growing rice that allows fields to dry out before farmers flood them again. The conventional method of growing rice uses a continuous flood over the paddy. Lee Atwill, an MSU Extension Service associate and agronomy doctoral student, says the key to alternate wetting and drying is establishing a continuous flood on the front end when nutrients are applied, weeds are controlled and the rice is established. “The key to maximizing nitrogen use efficiently for alternate wetting and drying is to maintain a continuous flood for 21 days after preflood nitrogen is applied, and then begin the alternate wetting and drying management,” Atwill says.

Nitrogen is applied aerially as urea on this preflood field in Washington County, Miss.

nent flood while minimizing volatization losses of nitrogen. “The flood allows the plants to take up the nitrogen in the form most useful to them,” Atwill says. “About 70 to 80 percent of preflood-applied nitrogen is taken up in the first 21 days as growers maintain a 4-inch flood.” He says once nitrogen is properly applied preflood, growers can use the alternate wetting and drying method for rice production. If growers using AWD decide to apply additional nitrogen during the growing season, they must bring the field back to flood level and then apply urea. Research proven Alternate wetting and drying is a research-proven rice management technique that cuts water use by up to onethird while maintaining yields. Although the practice is not suitable for every rice field, farmers use it on about 20 percent of Mississippi rice fields. “We intentionally allow the rice field to dry down after the initial flood, which is radically different than the recommendations across the Rice Belt,” says Jason Krutz, Extension irrigation specialist

and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researcher. “We establish the flood again before harvest. But rather than letting the rice grow in 2 to 4 inches of standing water during the majority of the growing season, we let the field dry to where water is 4 inches below the soil surface before flooding it again. “Using alternate wetting and drying, we’ve been seeing a 30 percent reduction in water use and no change in yield. The economic advantage is our AWD fields are coming in about $50 ahead from water savings.” Atwill says MSU researchers are defining best management practices that allow growers to learn how to manage an alternate wetting and drying system that works for them. “We give growers the tools they need to start, teach them how to do it and what safe practices are,” Atwill says. “Many are choosing to implement it on their own farms.” Bonnie Coblentz is a writer and editor with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. She may be reached at b.coblentz@msstate.edu. RICEFARMING.COM

More mudbugs Louisiana’s crawfish producers generally are harvesting more pounds this season than last, allaying fears about damage from last summer’s flooding. By Vicky Boyd Editor

to additional acres, says Ray McClain, a Louisiana State University AgCenter aquaculture researcher based in Crowley. An unusually mild winter also reduced crawfish mortality. A small number of producers are lagging behind this season compared to the same time last year. But McClain says, “It’s hard to say how much of that is due to extended flooding and how much is to do other factors. “Particularly with crawfish, it’s unlike most other crops. It’s just not uniform from year to year. Even in a normal year, there’s a certain small percentage of farmers who are behind for whatever reason even though the majority of farmers are doing good or in some cases even better than normal.”

Production is up Overall, Louisiana’s crawfish production is substantially higher this year than at the same last year, with part of that due

Crawfish crossing the roads Where Richard and his family farm, high water from torrential rains last summer topped roads, levees and flooded

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VICKY BOYD

fter historic flooding in south Louisiana last summer, many crawfish producers were concerned about how the 2017 season would shape up. With harvest numbers in mid-February significantly above the same time last year, crawfish have shown their resiliency. “It definitely wasn’t a crop failure—I think we’re in pretty good shape,” says Christian Richard, a rice and crawfish producer near Kaplan, La. The larger catches may have quashed earlier worries, but they also have caused the market to respond accordingly. “It’s the purest form of economics you’ll find,” he says. “When the catch goes up, the price goes down the next day.” In mid-February, Richard was selling crawfish to wholesale buyers for $1.25 per pound. The same time last year, they were fetching $2.25 per pound. Although producers typically dislike low prices, Fred Zaunbrecher says they may make crawfish more accessible to price-conscious consumers who before were unable to afford the crustaceans. “I think the lower price is helping them out,” says Zaunbrecher, who farms rice and crawfish near Duson, La. Demand has been strong, and Richard says he believes unseasonably warm weather has prompted consumers to hold more crawfish boils. Both he and Zaunbrecher say they expect this year’s later Easter—April 16— will further spur demand as many consumers give up red meat for the 40 days of Lent. With strengthening demand, they say they hope for firmer prices.

Rice and crawfish producer Christian Richard (right) and his employee, Juan, work the crawfish harvest near Kaplan, La.

houses for more than 10 days. “We had crawfish crossing the roads, and this happened the second week of August, which is way too early for these crawfish to be coming out of their holes,” he says. “So we were very scared about what would be left.” Zaunbrecher also has seen a similar bump in production compared to the same time last year. Like Richard, he experienced flooded fields and roads in August, but the high water doesn’t appear to have had a lingering effect. “I don’t think the water stayed on the ground long enough before it came off,” Zaunbrecher says. Late-summer flooding can flush crawfish from their burrows, making them fair game for predators. It also interrupts breeding and egg laying. In addition, extended periods of flooding may cause stagnation, robbing the water of oxygen and suffocating crawfish in their burrows. MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

Industry on ‘life support’ Improved quality and lower prices among foreign competitors continue to challenge U.S. rice exports. By VIcky Boyd Editor

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

India is expected to take over from Thailand as the top rice exporting country this year.

Organization challenges was ﬁled against China on behalf of U.S. rice, wheat and corn. The complaint alleges China is illegally subsidizing prices of those crops. Although the United States currently does not export rice to China, Brothers says that country has the potential to be a valuable market. He says he expects the United States will prevail in its WTO complaint. If several of these non-tariff trade barriers were removed, Brothers says it would likely increase the price for Asian rice, making the United States more competitive in the world market. Since the beginning of the rice marketing year Aug. 1, 2016, U.S. rice export sales for milled long-grain are down 23 percent while export sales of rough rice are up 7 percent. “Mills haven’t been running on the pace we desire, although it has been better the last six weeks,” he says. “Hopefully we will build some momentum going into the end of the year.”

VICKY BOYD

he U.S. rice industry’s share of the world export market continues to decline as competing countries have improved their quality and still retained lower prices. With the U.S. industry relying on world trade to take more than half of its annual production, declining export sales have significantly depressed U.S. grower prices. Domestically, rice consumption continues to increase but not at a high enough level to offset all of the lost export sales. That was the sobering message presented at the recent Mid-South Farm & Gin Show by Carl Brothers, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Stuttgart, Ark.-based Riceland Foods. “We’re on life support while the rest of the world is growing,” Brothers told a packed crowd during the ag commodity update in Memphis, Tenn. The United States produces only 1.5 percent of the world’s rice, with China and India together accounting for more than 50 percent of world rice. This year, Brother says he expects India to take over from Thailand as the No. 1 rice exporter. During the 1979-80 marketing year, the United States accounted for 24 percent of the world’s rice export trade. This year, it will be only 9 percent. Compare that to soybeans, where the United States accounts for 35 percent of world production but 40 percent of world exports. “What’s going on?” Brothers says. “We’re seeing an improvement in (rice) quality from competitors and lower prices. We think there’s something behind these prices like prohibiting trade access because of high tariffs. U.S. production could increase 20 percent and exports 43 percent if some of these trade barriers were rectified.” One of the most recent World Trade

Domestically, rice consumption continues to increase and has more than doubled since 1980. Brothers attributes it to a growing immigrant population as well as more restaurants featuring the grain. In addition, pet food manufacturers have discovered the nutritional beneﬁts of rice and are increasingly using it as an ingredient. But increasing domestic consumption also is a double-edged sword, making the U.S. market more attractive to importers. In addition, soft U.S. rice prices are taking a toll on planted rice acres. At its Agricultural Outlook Forum in February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasted rice growers will plant about 2.6 million acres this year compared to 3.2 million acres in 2016. Informa, a Memphis-based data gathering ﬁrm, says it expects rice growers will plant about 2.8 million acres. The USDA will issue its prospective plantings report covering not just rice, but several other row crops, March 31. RICEFARMING.COM

The ‘Rice Checker’ Simple, farmer-built gauge helps augment water management. By Vicky Boyd Editor

Farm tested The Isbells use the gauges on their own farm and had received requests from acquaintances over the years to purchase them. A few years ago, Mark decided to start a side business making and selling the devices, which he has branded as the Rice Checker. In 2016 and 2017, Ducks Unlimited deployed more than 100 each year to help growers participating in the rice Regional Conservation Partnership Program or RCPP. The Rice Checker comes in two sizes—large and small. The larger gauge is taller than it used to be so Mark can place it in perimeter ditches of their zero-grade fields rather than in the fields themselves. That way he doesn’t have to worry about aquatic Twitter: @RiceFarming

VICKY BOYD

ore than 40 years ago, Leroy Isbell, a rice producer near England, Ark., built his first rice water gauge after seeing one in a store in Carlisle, Ark. “It had a block of Styrofoam on the end to make it float, but it would soften and the turtles ate it,” says Leroy’s son, Chris Isbell, laughing about their original design. “We tried everything. We even filled little pint freezer containers with Styrofoam to keep the turtles from eating it.” The low-tech device has evolved and been refined over the years, with the current version built of PVC pipe, metal electrical conduit and a toilet bowl float replacing the Styrofoam block. Mark Isbell, Leroy’s grandson and also a rice producer, is quick to point out that the water gauge is a tool and not intended to replace boots on the ground. But it helps augment water management by providing additional data points, he says. Growers who drive by their fields several times during the day, for example, can glance over and easily read the large numbers on the gauge to double-check water levels. The simple design involves a pole made of metal conduit stuck in the ground. On the top is a piece of plastic where numbers denoting water depth has been printed. Brackets attach a large-diameter PVC pipe to the metal pole. Inside the larger PVC pipe is a smaller-diameter one onto which a toilet bowl float has been attached. On the upper end is a small red arrow. The toilet bowl float rises and falls with the field water level, moving the inner pipe with it and the red arrow pointing out the relative water level on the top. Although the design is simple, Mark says the gauge looks easier than it is to build. “At the end of the day, if somebody wants to build it, they can,” he says. “Even though I’m not selling it to them, we’re still benefiting from water conservation.”

The Rice Checker, built and marketed by Arkansas rice producer Mark Isbell, helps growers monitor water levels in rice fields. It is not designed to replace “boots on the ground” when it comes to water management.

weeds, such as duck salad, growing up around them. The smaller version was a new idea to see if it was feasible. “It’s easier to build, which means I can sell it at a lower price,” Mark says. “It’s not as visible, so that’s a drawback. But if you need more than one in a field, you’re not spending as much per item so you can use more.” The gauges last for several seasons if stored properly and not run over by errant equipment drivers. For more information, contact Mark Isbell via Twitter at @rice checker or @mjisbell. MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

A wake-up call Fungicide-resistant sheath blight in Louisiana should reinforce the need to follow sound resistance-management practices in both rice and soybeans. By Yeshi Wamishe and Travis Faske

Currently, no isolate of Rhizoctonia solani has been reported to be resistant to either fungicide in Arkansas. Growers and consultants should be aware of these findings and continue to use practices that minimize the selection of fungicide-resistant pathogens that affect rice or soybean. What causes resistance? Fungicide resistance is caused when fungicide efficacy on a pathogen is reduced or lost. It is generally accepted that resistance occurs when reduced rates of a fungicide are used or when fungicides are applied in the absence of disease. Thus, the fungal population is consciously exposed to a fungicide, and isolates that may be less sensitive are better suited to survive and infect the host crop. This population increases over time due to repeated use of the same fungicide

chemistry until a field failure is observed. This is what happened with the sheath blight pathogen for two fungicide chemistries in Louisiana. Managing fungicide resistance is critical to disease control as soybean producers have experienced with strobilurin-resistant frogeye leaf spot. In some situations, another fungicide chemistry, such as a different Fungicide Resistance Action Committee group number, can be used. But dependency and pressure on a single chemistry is risky and often short lived, which was the case in Louisiana. Currently, Arkansas producers are relying on one chemistry to control frogeye leaf spot but still have options to control rice sheath blight. Managing fungicide usage to prevent fungicide resistance is much easier than trying to manage resistance after it has developed.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

uring the 2011 cropping season, strobilurin-resistant isolates of Rhizoctonia soloni, the causal agent of sheath blight, were confirmed in a few rice fields in Louisiana. This is the same pathogen that causes aerial blight of soybeans. This was a wake-up call for rice and soybean producers to be vigilant in their fungicide use. Only four years later, fungal isolates were identified that are insensitive to fluxapyroxad (Sercadis), an SDHI fungicide, in spots within the rice field where it did not suppress sheath blight in Louisiana. These new strains were confirmed to have cross-resistance with flutolanil (Elegia), another SDHI fungicide. Fluxapyroxad is one of the active ingredients in Priaxor, which is used on soybeans in Arkansas and other states.

RICE FARMING â&#x20AC;˘ MARCH 2017

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DONALD GROTH, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AGCENTER; BUGWOOD.ORG

A few isolated populations of sheath blight in Louisiana have been confirmed to have cross resistance to more than one SDHI fungicide.

Fungicides with a single target site, such as a strobilurin, are at a greater risk to develop resistance than others. But prolonged use of any single mode of action increases the risk of fungicide resistance. Therefore, we need to implement resistance management strategies starting when the products become available for commercial use. How to delay resistance  Use host plant resistance. Rice and soybean cultivars with resistance to sheath blight or frogeye leaf spot, respectively, are the most economical and practical methods to manage fungal diseases.  Follow the label. Follow directions on the fungicide label for speciﬁc resistance management guidelines on tankmixing, rate and total amount to be applied per season.  Apply in the presence of the disease if the disease does not require protective fungicide. Use fungicides to control disease that has been observed in the ﬁeld.  Do not overspray. Do not use fungicides as a rescue treatment. Applying high rates after the disease reaches a high disease severity increases the chances for resistant populations of plant-pathogenic fungi developing.  Rotate different fungicide modes of action, if available. Fungicides with TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

the same mode of action—or same FRAC codes—target the same genes in the fungus. As a result, it is highly probable that pathogen populations resistant to one mode of action will be resistant to others within that same classiﬁcation. Such a situation is referred to as cross resistance. For example, rotating from Quadris to Headline is NOT rotating chemistries as they are both strobilurin fungicides or FRAC Code 11.  Use crop rotation. Because Rhizoctonia solani can build to high populations on soybeans and rice, rotating with other less-susceptible crops, such as corn or grain sorghum, can be beneﬁcial to delay the initial disease severity for the subsequent crop.  Additional tips — Use good agronomic practices for crop development — Keep updated on the current resistance issues — Scout and report situations where a fungicide failure is possibly linked to fungicide resistance. Dr. Yeshi Wamishe and Dr. Travis Faske are University of Arkansas Extension rice plant pathologists. Wamishe, based at the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart, can be reached at ywamishe@ uaex.edu. Faske, based in Lonoke, can be reached at tfaske@uaex.edu.

Submit a nomination for the 2017 Rice Consultant of the Year Award. Recognize an outstanding consultant or pest control advisor (PCA) for their dedication, leadership and innovation in the U.S. rice industry. For more information, go to ricefarming.com/rcoy.

Submit nominations by May 31, 2017.

S P O N S O R E D

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Abbreviated Rules. No Purchase Necessary. Contest ends on 5/31/17 at 11:59:59 PM (CT). To enter, go to http://www.ricefarming.com/rcoy. Nominators must be legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and possess knowledge and/or experience in the rice farming industry. Entrants must be legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and serve as a rice consultant or as a pest control advisor in the rice farming industry. Subject to complete Official Rules found at http://www.ricefarming.com/rcoy. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Dow AgroSciences LLC, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268. ® Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow. ©2017 Dow AgroSciences LLC

MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

Specialists Speaking

Sulfur and zinc fertilizer sources are important DR. DUSTIN HARRELL LOUISIANA Extension Rice Specialist dharrell@agcenter.lsu.edu

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the first nutrients we generally think of for plant nutrition. It is important to remember that sulfur and zinc are also important plant essential nutrients needed for rice development. A soil test is good at determining if sulfur or zinc is limiting in your soil and if you need to apply additional sulfur or zinc to maximize rice yields. However, the fertilizer source is important to both these fertilizer nutrients to be adequately used by rice. Sulfur must be in the sulfate form (SO4) to be used by plants. Ammonium sulfate, zinc sulfate and other sulfate fertilizers are excellent sources of sulfur. Elemental sulfur (S2) fertilizer (commonly 0-0-0-90 S) is not a good fertilizer source to use in-season for rice because the sulfur is not in an immediately available form. The elemental sulfur must be converted to the sulfate form before it can be made available for rice. This conversion is called sulfur oxidation and it is done by

Watch for the ‘Eddie Haskell’ of nitrogen loss DR. M.O. “MO” WAY TEXAS Rice Research Entomologist moway@aesrg.tamu.edu

Vicky wanted me to talk a little about early season nutrient management. Since this is not my area of expertise, I turned to Toni Spencer with M&J Fertilizer in Winnie, Texas. Virtually all her rice farmers apply products that contain the NBPT urease inhibitor. NBPT inhibits a common soilborne enzyme called urease. This enzyme catalyzes a reaction that combines water with urea (hydrolysis) to produce ammonia gas, which escapes into the atmosphere. Thus, NBPT reduces the amount of volatile nitrogen lost to the rice crop. NBPT-treated urea can reduce ammonia loss by 50 to 90 percent. So if you cannot flush or flood your fields immediately after urea application, you should consider using an NBPT product. High temperatures, wind and lots of crop residue can exacerbate ammonia production and subsequent nitrogen loss. Another source of nitrogen loss caused by specific soil mi-

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

sulfur oxidizing bacteria. Most of the sulfur oxidizing bacteria require…drum roll please…oxygen. Once the rice is flooded, generally very little elemental sulfur will be converted into sulfate sulfur. In upland conditions, elemental sulfur oxidation to sulfate sulfur is a slow process that can be influenced by several factors including the size of the fertilizer (powdered will be oxidized faster), temperature, soil pH, soil water content, oxygen availability and the amount of sulfur oxidizing bacteria in the soil. In upland conditions, conversion of large granules of elemental sulfur will be very slow. For example, one study illustrated only 2 percent of the elemental sulfur would be converted in a one-month period for a granular size slightly smaller than a pencil eraser. Therefore, applications of elemental sulfur for rice in-season for a soil that is deficient in sulfur is not recommended. However, applications of elemental sulfur are recommended in the fall and winter to bring soil test sulfur levels up and to help lower soil pH. Similarly, zinc must be in a soluble form to be used by rice immediately. Generally, we would like to see producers use zinc fertilizer sources that are at least 50 percent water soluble. Less soluble forms, like zinc oxide, are not immediately available and are not recommended for rice grown in a soil that is limiting in zinc during the growing season. The water solubility of zinc fertilizers is stated on fertilizer labels.

crobes was cleverly and expertly described by Dr. Winston Earnheart, Mississippi crop consultant, at the recent National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in Baton Rouge, La. One of these microbes is Nitrosomonas spp. which Winston dubbed the “Eddie Haskell” of nitrogen loss. Many of you youngsters do not remember Eddie, but he was the bully and suck-up on the “Leave It To Beaver” TV show back in the 1950s and ’60s. Everyone watched this family comedy and grew to detest Eddie, who bullied Beaver Cleaver while making nice with Beaver and Wally’s parents, Ward and June Cleaver. Anyway, this bacterium converts ammonium (which can be taken up by rice plants) to nitrite in an oxidation reaction in the soil. Nitrites and soil particles are negatively charged and since negatives repel, nitrites leach out of the rice plant root zone. Another soil microbe, Nitrobacter spp., then converts nitrites to nitrates in another oxidation reaction. Nitrates are also negatively charged, so they, too, can be lost to the rice plant. Thus, you can say Nitrobacter spp. is Eddie’s evil cousin. However, there are several products that can reduce these nitrogen losses. One is DCD which has bacteriostatic activity—it slows the rate of conversion of ammonium to nitrites, increasing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer available to your crop. Consult with your university agronomists, crop consultants and industry folks to see if it pays for you to use these products to increase your nitrogen-use efficiency. RICEFARMING.COM

Specialists Speaking

Draft a plan for early season control of late watergrass DR. WHITNEY BRIM-DEFOREST

CALIFORNIA Extension Agronomist University of California, Davis wbrimdeforest@ucanr.edu In rice cropping systems, weeds are one of the greatest contributors to yield loss. In California, the potential yield losses in drill-seeded fields are 100 percent when weeds are uncontrolled. In continuously flooded fields where water suppresses some weed species, potential yield losses from uncontrolled weeds are about 35-60 percent. To reduce yield loss, weeds are best managed early—by about 30 days after seeding. In California, late watergrass is the first weed to emerge at the beginning of the season. It can come up equally well under flooded and flushed irrigation systems, and it easily outcompetes rice to cause high yield losses of up to about 50 percent. In warm weather, it may even emerge before rice, so it is essential to have good control as soon as possible. Many late watergrass populations are herbicide resistant, so if you suspect resistance, it is a good idea to get your population tested before planning your herbicide program. The University of California offers free testing to rice growers and pest control advisers. If you collect and submit seeds in the fall, you will get your results by the following spring. Several herbicides are available to control late watergrass early in the season. In both flooded and drill-seeded (flushed) systems, a pre-plant application of Abolish is a good option. Adding Halomax or Sandea as a tankmix with Abolish can significantly increase late watergrass control. In a drill-seeded system, Prowl H2O can also be used pre-plant. In a continuously flooded system, the granular herbicides for late watergrass control are Bolero, League MVP, Granite GR or Cerano. Bolero, League MVP and Granite GR have the added benefit of sedge and broadleaf control. There are many foliar herbicides and tankmixes available for growers who drain early in the season, too many to list here. But for the best late watergrass control, all herbicide applications should be made as close to the one- to three-leaf rice stage as possible. In fields with heavy populations of susceptible late watergrass or herbicide-resistant late watergrass (mimic), using a stale seedbed with an application of a non-selective herbicide, such as glyphosate, before planting can reduce late watergrass populations by as much as 80-90 percent. To effectively use a stale seedbed, flush or flood fields as soon as possible after seedbed preparation. Late watergrass takes about two weeks for most of the population to emerge. If flooded, block the drains after flooding and allow the water to recede into the soil. Then go in and spray with a non-selective herbicide. Allow about 48 hours after application to ensure complete uptake of the Twitter: @RiceFarming

herbicides, then flood and seed rice into the water. For best results and to reduce the chances of selecting for herbicide resistance, all herbicides should be applied at the maximum labeled rate and appropriate timing. Happy planning!

Nitrogen best management strategies DR. JARROD HARDKE

ARKANSAS Asst. Professor/Rice Extension Agronomist University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service jhardke@uaex.edu Early cool and wet conditions during the preflood nitrogen (N) application window have caused continued problems in recent years. Whether growing a variety or hybrid, overall yield potential is set by the efficiency of our preflood N application. When preflood N is applied onto dry soil at the four- to fiveleaf stage and a flood is applied in a timely manner, plants take up 60 to 70 percent of the total N applied over the course of three weeks. Uptake increases throughout the three-week period with about 10 percent uptake in week one, 20 percent in week two and 30 percent in week three. The preferred preflood N management option is always to apply NBPT-treated urea onto dry soil and establish the permanent flood in a timely manner (~ 7 days) to incorporate N below the soil surface. If faced with soil conditions that are not dry and before resorting to any other N application option, wait until the final recommended time to apply N based on the DD50 Rice Management Program. Upon reaching the end of the recommended window with muddy soil conditions, apply NBPT-treated urea to muddy soil and attempt to let the soil dry before establishing the flood. If applying N to mud, some amount will be lost. If you’re attempting to increase the N rate, only do so slightly (~20 pounds N higher). Watch the crop closely and apply extra N if N deficiency occurs. As a last resort when reaching the end of the recommended window with standing water on the field, begin “spoon-feeding” N into the water in small quantities every seven days. Small quantities mean 46 pounds N per acre (100 pounds urea per acre). Do not, for any reason, apply the entire recommended preflood N rate in one application into standing water. Research has shown that on varieties, five applications each of 100 pounds of urea are needed to reach yields competitive to those achieved when the preflood is applied to dry soil. Waiting until the end of the recommended window to begin spoon-feed applications is preferred to beginning earlier as the smaller rice plants take up less N from the earliest applications. While increased N rates result in increased production costs, delays in N application past the final recommended time based on DD50 result in yield declines. Beginning N in a timely manner MARCH 2017 • RICE FARMING

Specialists Speaking ensures greater yield potential and reduces the potential for further costs incurred from loss of weed control. Manage every field on a case-by-case basis. Using the DD50 Rice Management Program can help to time management decisions in these situations (http://www.DD50.uaex.edu).

Nutrient management cannot be overlooked DR. BOBBY GOLDEN MISSISSIPPI Extension Rice Specialist bgolden@drec.msstate.edu

Many of you have heard me speak over the past several years about soil sampling and/or maintaining adequate soil fertility as a foundation for yield. Every fall I get the same call from numerous producers, “I really don’t like the cost associated with fertilization, so I think I’m going to cut back.” My response is generally, “Let’s look at your soil test values and see if we can reduce anything.” In most cases, if we cut fertility rates we end up harming our yield potential. Therefore let’s use the capital we spent on having soil samples collected, processed and analyzed to work for us. That means building a solid base of P, K and S (potassium, potash and sulfur) fertility to start the season off right. Starting off with a sound fertility base will allow producers to get full benefit from every other input throughout the remainder of the season. Perhaps the most encountered nutrient dificiency in Mississippi rice production is phosphorus. This is not surprising if you look at recent data from the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI). During 2015, about 75 percent of soil samples taken in the state were below established critical levels for P. Furthermore, IPNI data suggest that nutrient removal in grain-to-fertilizer-use ratios for phosphorus is > 5.0 for most of the rice-growing region. This means that annually we are removing a great deal more P than we are providing with fertilizer. Over the past decade, Mississippi State University researchers

RICE FARMING • MARCH 2017

have been evaluating when and how much phosphorus is needed to produce optimal rice yields. Most everyone has heard of the 4 R’s of fertilization, and this research aims to address two of the four—the right time and right rate. Our research suggests that applying P (50 pounds P2O5 per acre) to soils that test at levels generating a recommendation yield 11 bushels per acre greater compared to an untreated control. This data set also showed that we may need to reconsider application timing on high pH soils. When we only evaluate soils with a pH > 7.5, it appears that maximum benefits received from P fertilization occur when P is applied in the spring, with the greatest rice grain yields observed when P is applied at the two-leaf growth stage (Fig 1). On soils with pH < 7.5, application timing was not as critical, and yield benefits from P application were similar among application times ranging from fall to the two-leaf stage.

Weigh furrow-irrigated rice pros, cons before embarking SAM ATWELL

MISSOURI Agronomy Specialist atwells@missouri.edu How do I make a profit in 2017? Is there a way to decrease input cost? Can I change my operation to make it more economical, like switching to furrow-irrigated or row rice? When growers ask whether they should switch to furrow-irrigated rice, my answer is a typical university one—“it depends.” I’m accused of being on both sides because it depends on your situation and management skills. If the problem is water, soil, topography, crop rotation or economics, all are valid reasons for making changes, but they don’t carry the same weight. Saving money by pumping less water is probably the hardest to justify. If lack of water from a weak well means you can’t hold a flood, then you probably won’t solve it with furrow-irrigated rice. However, if you have sandy soils, then furrow irrigation may be the answer. Furrow irrigation also often works well on sloping fields with lots of levees. Crop rotation is another good reason to consider furrow-irrigated rice, especially if you have heavy clay soils that wick well. If you have what I call good rice soil— clay base with silt on top—and a good well, you will be hard pressed to equal it with furrow-irrigated rice. I have not seen any research where furrow irrigation increases yields over flooded under good conditions. The goal for most Missouri growers using furrow-irrigated rice is to grow the crop on problem fields and not lose money. If you can stand slightly lower yields and offset it with lower input costs, then furrow irrigation should be considered and tried. But buyer beware. University of Missouri researchers have studied furrow irrigated rice since 1988. The pros and cons are discussed in MU G4361 publication, published in 1993 and available online at http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G4361. RICEFARMING.COM

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