Rice Farming May 2021 by One Grower Publishing

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ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

MAY 2021

Pyrethroid efficacy wanes against rice stink bugs RiceTec and Adama plan field demos of Max-Ace rice

Got billbugs? Combo seed treatments fight pest, but you must plan ahead

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Baker Implement Co. Arbyrd, MO: 573-654-3511 Blytheville, AR: 870-763-4556 Cape Girardeau, MO: 573-335-8226 Dexter, MO: 573-624-8021 Kennett, MO: 573-888-4646 Malden, MO: 573-276-3896 Osceola, AR: 870-563-6636 Paragould, AR: 870-573-6970 Piggott, AR: 870-598-3848 Poplar Bluff, MO: 573-785-9628 Portageville, MO: 573-379-5455

Delta Implement Co. Cleveland, MS: 662-843-2742

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Hlavinka Equipment Co. East Bernard, TX: 979-335-7528 El Campo, TX: 979-543-3301 Nome, TX: 409-253-2244 Taft, TX: 361-528-2554 Victoria, TX: 361-541-6100

Hood Equipment Co., Inc.

Heartland Equipment

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Jonesboro, AR: 870-932-8383 Marked Tree, AR: 870-358-2555 Weiner, AR: 870-684-2231 West Memphis, AR: 870-732-4474 Wynne, AR: 870-238-1234

Batesville, MS: 662-563-4546 Bruce, MS: 662-983-7181

Medlin Equipment Co. Mid-South Agricultural Equipment, Inc. Byhalia, MS: 662-890-3141 Clarksdale, MS: 662-624-4305 Sumner, MS: 662-375-8852 Tunica, MS: 662-363-2231

Progressive Tractor & Implement, Co. Arnaudville, LA: 337-667-6535 Bunkie, LA: 318-346-6361 Eunice, LA: 337-457-4103 Iowa, LA: 337-588-4704 Jeanerette, LA: 337-276-6384 Jonesville, LA: 318-757-7911 Lake Providence, LA: 318-559-2880 Mcgehee, AR: 870-222-3022 New Roads, LA: 225-638-6347 Opelousas, LA: 337-942-5689 Rayville, LA: 318-728-4436 Shreveport, LA: 318-404-1447 Tallulah, LA: 318-574-3190

March 2018 May 2021

COLUMNS

www.ricefarming.com

Vol. 52, 55, No. 4 6

COVER STORY

4 From the Editor

Rice's long Fram’s Joe history the Mechanic bucks knew what 'what's hot in hefood' was talking trends about

6 Guest Column 6 Rice Update RiceUSA and sustainability

USA Rice reminds consumers to “Start 8 USAwith RiceRice” Update Rice industry sets priorities D PARTMENTS for Ethe next Farm Bill

don’t let them go to seed

Got billbugs? Here to stay?

19 Specialists Speaking D P A R TofMweeds, E N T and S StayE ahead

19 Industry News RiceIndustry 22 business scene News

Combination seed treatments help reduce damage and increase yields, but you must plan ahead.

20 Specialist Speaking

The California rice industry prepares for what may become annual armyworm F E AT U R E S infestations.

Rice business scene

Early herbicide mistakes can ON THE COVER: are inch-long plague you allBillbugs season long

weevils that prefer dry ground to flooded rice paddies. As a result, they have become an increasing problem in ON Armyworms rowTHE rice, COVER: also known as furrow-once again plagued irrigated rice. California rice growers in 2017. Photo by Vicky Boyd Photo by Luis Espino, University of California Cooperative Extension

7 Positive outlook F E AExpected T U R E Sacreage reduction should yield

a manageable crop that will help support The yin and yang prices. Shorter supplies have shorn up the A weedbut control ace2018 in the hole market, increased planting RiceTec and Adama partner on limited projections cloud long-term outlook. launch of the Max-Ace herbicide-tolerant rice system.

9 8 14 10

Sign e-newsletter Sign up up for for the the monthly monthly e-newsletter at to have have exclusive exclusive atricefarming.com ricefarming.com to industry news and content delivered industry news and content delivered directly inbox. directly to to your your inbox.

Floods aid expansion A wake-up Giant invasivecall snail threatens the

Pest continues New tools in theexpansion tool box

14 16

Reduced pyrethroid against rice-crawfish rotationefficacy in southwest rice stink bugs prompts call for strict Louisiana. adherence to IPM.

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Stay up-to-date with the latest from Rice Farming. www.facebook.com/ ricefarming1 Follow us on Twitter: @RiceFarming TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

will be special salute recipients be featured in a will The award They also luncheon.

SPONSORS

USA Rice

Update

USA Rice reminds consumers to ‘Start with Rice’

By Betsy Ward President and CEO USA Rice

Consumers in seven markets had opportunities to see 42 different billboards that promoted ‘Start with Rice.’

he COVID-19 pandemic has been terrible for millions of Americans and from an economic standpoint, one of the hardest hit sectors was foodservice. In many places, restaurants were forced to close dining rooms. Even if they weren’t, customers stayed away out of concern over the virus. As many as 20% of restaurants that were in business in January 2020 no longer are. We saw a major shift in rice demand from the foodservice sector to the retail sector. You may recall empty grocery store shelves and limits on the number of staples one could purchase — items like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and rice and beans. How to keep retail sales going USA Rice was asked to explore ways to sustain the sales increase, so the Domestic Promotion Committee created a task force made up of millers and farmers representing all six rice-producing states. They developed a plan of paid media and retail partnerships that would connect with consumers to encourage them to buy more U.S.-grown rice and to feel good about the rice they already purchased. They identified seven U.S. markets where rice sales were not typically strong but had increased during the pandemic, had a good-sized population, were affordable from a media perspective and where there were a few dominant retailers we could partner with. The committee received the financial support of the USA Rice Council and Rice Millers’ Association, and we were “off to the races.”

USA RICE

No need to reinvent the wheel We didn’t need to recreate the wheel as our messaging was rooted in USA Rice consumer research from 2016 and 2017 that spawned the successful “Start with Rice” Certified Louisiana campaign. This program has been running since 2018, thanks to the Louisiana Rice Pro-

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

motion Board and a grant from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Between mid-November 2020 and early January, consumers in our target markets had the opportunity to see one of 42 Start with Rice billboards. They also were able to hear 16 unique commercials that offered rice tips and ideas on local radio and streaming audio services like Pandora, Spotify and iHeart Radio. All told, almost 59 million Americans saw or heard our advertisements. More than 9.4 million consumers in the markets were also encouraged to Start with Rice through our partnerships with grocery chains Kroger, Meijer and Woodman’s. Activities included newsletters, digital ads, emails, and in-store signage and interactive kiosks. Consumers paid attention And the results were impressive. On consumer attitudes, people who had seen our ads were far more likely to identify positive attributes of rice that were included in our messaging. Among those were “rice is quick, delicious, versatile and families enjoy it.” Importantly, more than half the people who saw or heard the ads remembered they were sponsored by “America’s Rice Farmers.” We also grew by 33% the number of consumers who said they planned to purchase rice six to nine times in the coming month. Rice sales themselves were also affected by the campaign with sales in the target markets remaining above 2019 baseline levels. One final metric was the number of people who saw or heard an ad and then went to our website, StartWithRice.com. Between November 2020 and April, our nationwide web traffic was actually down 15%. But in our target markets, traffic was up an average of 1,291%! We set out to positively impact consumers, and I think you have to agree we did. We boosted consumers’ rice IQ; now more of them know you’re out there growing their rice and they have better ideas how to prepare it. Our new relationship with major retailers isn’t bad, either. You can count on us to continue to promote the great story and reputation of U.S.-grown rice to American consumers. RICEFARMING.COM

Expected acreage reductions should yield a manageable crop that will help support prices By Kurt Guidry

Weather at planting Another factor that can and usually does determine where acres end up is weather conditions at planting. Through April 18, USDA estimated that about 33% of the total U.S. rice acres had been planted. This compares to a five-year average of about 41%. Unfavorable soil moisture and weather conditions have seemed to be the major factors in the slow planting progress for states like Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas. While forecasts of drier-than-normal conditions over the next several weeks hold promise that producers can catch up, any further delays could prompt additional acreage shifts. This is particularly true with new crop soybean prices approaching $14 per bushel. While California has not yet begun to plant rice in earnest, there is some uncertainty about the acres that state will ultimately plant. Much of California is under severe to extreme drought conditions. Positive outlook for 2021-2022 USDA’s projected acreage reductions for the 2021 crop year, along with the potential for even lower levels, help provide a positive outlook for the 2021-2022 marketing year. Production and supplies will not be as tight as they were in the 2019-2020 year when acres fell to 2.55 million, but they should be manageable enough to provide some support to prices. However, lower production, by itself, will not likely be enough to eliminate all price risk heading into the 2021-2022 marketing year. Demand will have to also play a part. Despite the concerns of how the COVID pandemic might affect it, there was actually a significant increase in domestic use for rice in 2020. Over the previous 10 years, domestic use averaged just less than 130 million hundredweights per year. But based on strong use in the last half of 2020 (the first half of the 2020-2021 marketing year), USDA increased its estimate to 160 million cwt, the highest TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

BRUCE SCHULTZ, LSU AGCENTER

ith rice planting continuing to move forward, the number of acres ultimately planted will likely be important to the overall price picture for the 2021-2022 marketing year. In its planting intentions report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged 2021 rice acres at slightly over 2.7 million.This would be down about 320,000 acres from the previous year, with most of that reduction (about 63%) coming from Arkansas. Much of the reason is believed to be a shift from rice into competing commodities. Prices for corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and, to some extent, cotton, have increased to levels at which they are attractive alternatives in some areas of the rice-growing region. There is even some sentiment that rice acres could be lower than USDA’s current projections. New crop corn and soybean prices have seen fairly significant increases over the past two months, which some believe could have shifted even more acres away from rice since the USDA conducted its planting intentions survey.

The number of acres ultimately planted this season will likely affect the overall price picture for the 2021-2022 marketing year.

on record and an 11% increase over the previous year. Some have suggested that consumers staying home due to the pandemic and having more at-home meals as one reason for the large increase. Export demand has not faired as well, with shipments in the last half of 2020 running significantly behind the previous year’s pace. Shipments have seemed to rebound somewhat over the past couple months, but year-to-date sales are still nearly 9% behind last year. As the United States and world continue to relax COVID restrictions, it will be interesting to see how this affects overall rice demand. Lower production should limit market risk In its April 2021 supply and demand report, the USDA reduced its expectations for both domestic use and exports for the 20202021 marketing year by 2 million cwt. The reduction in domestic use was the first decline this marketing year while the reduction in exports was the fifth consecutive month. While this is not necessarily a sign of how demand will respond as we continue to relax COVID restrictions, it does create the potential for higher available stocks to start the 2021 crop year. Currently, prices reported for rice in Louisiana are about $23 per barrel ($14.20 cwt) for the small amount of the 2020 crop that remains unsold and $20 per barrel ($12.35 cwt) for new crop rice. Despite reduced acreage and production, higher beginning stocks and the uncertainty about demand will likely keep some pressure on the market in the short term. While there is some downside risk, it would seem that the lower production expectations in 2021 will help limit it. Upside potential will depend on how demand performs throughout the year and how much the market can whittle away at stock levels. Given all of the factors currently facing this market, a logical projection for an average price in the 2021-2022 marketing year seems to be in the $19 to $22 per-barrel range ($11.72 to $13.58 cwt). Dr. Kurt Guidry is Southwest Region director and Extension economist with the Louisiana State University AgCenter in Crowley. He may be reached at KMGuidry@agcenter.lsu.edu. MAY 2021

RICE FARMING

VICKY BOYD

A weed control ace in the hole RiceTec and Adama partner on limited launch of the Max-Ace herbicide-tolerant rice system. By Vicky Boyd Editor

his season, RiceTec and Adama plan a limited launch of the Max-Ace Rice Crop Solution system that pairs RiceTec’s herbicide-tolerant rice cultivars with Adama’s proprietary herbicide. The introduction marks another milestone for Alvin, Texas-based RiceTec — it will include a hybrid for which the company is known as well as a variety. The two companies plan to have 40 to 50 farm-scale demonstrations throughout the South and Mid-South this season showcasing the new production system. They will be split between the Max-Ace hybrid and variety. RiceTec and Adama also plan to hold field tours so growers can learn first-hand about the production system. Using traditional techniques, RiceTec has developed Max-Ace cultivars that are tolerant to over-the-top applications of quizalofop herbicide. Highcard, which contains the active ingredient quizalofop, is formulated with a patented safener for improved crop safety, said

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MAY 2021

Dave Feist, Adama product strategy manager for rice. The Environmental Protection Agency granted the herbicide a full Section 3 registration in February, and it is labeled for use only on Max-Ace rice. Highcard is not registered for use in California. RiceTec is awaiting Canadian approval of the Max-Ace nonGMO herbicide tolerance trait. As a result, harvests from the demonstration fields will be identity preserved and channeled accordingly. RiceTec Max-Ace offerings RT7331 MA is a Max-Ace hybrid with comparable yield and plant characteristics to XP753, said Leandro Pasqualli, RiceTec marketing manager. It also has the strong disease package of other RiceTec hybrids. RTv7231 MA is a Max-Ace variety that is four to five days earlier in maturity than RT7331 MA or XP753. RTv7231 MA has RICEFARMING.COM

Start clean, stay clean Regardless of the rice type grown, Feist said it’s always best to start clean and stay clean by applying a preplant residual herbicide, such as clomazone or pendimethalin. Because Highcard is a grass herbicide, he said growers will need to incorporate broadleaf products into their weed control program. The Highcard label allows for up to 15.5 fluid ounces per application and no more than 31 fluid ounces per season. Feist said researchers compared three 10-ounce applications to two 15-ounce applications and found two at the higher rates provided nearly complete control of grasses, including weedy rice. “We don’t want the red rice to escape and cross pollinate with the crop,” he said. The label also restricts use to two applications

spaced at least 10 days apart. As part of weed resistance management, Feist recommended against cutting Highcard rates, noting Max-Ace rice can withstand the higher labeled rates without crop response because of its strong genetic tolerance. Herbicide application timings The first Highcard application should be made when the rice is at the two- to three-leaf stage, with a second application made at least 10 days later and before panicle initiation. The actual timing depends on weed pressure. For best results, applications should be made on warm, sunny days when both the rice and weeds are actively growing. And weather for the preceding days is much more important than for the following days, Feist said. Application during cloudy or overcast days should be avoided when possible. As part of Max-Ace stewardship, growers must agree to make two Highcard applications. The stewardship agreement also recommends growers rotate to conventional rice, a different herbicide-traited rice — or better yet, a different crop entirely — the year following Max-Ace rice. Because Highcard does not carry over in the soil, growers are able to plant non-ACCase-tolerant rice varieties or hybrids the following year. Adama researchers continue to test the tankmix compatibility of Highcard and broadleaf herbicides. So far, quinclorac and Loyant appear to be suitable tankmix partners, he said. “I think we’re going to see a lot of quinclorac-type mixes be very popular. It’s going to have a good fit,” Feist said. “The others we’re still exploring. They’re not perfect mix partners, let’s put it that way.” Among the more antagonistic are phenoxies, which are rarely used on rice any more, and propanil, he said. PHOTO COURTESY ADAMA

blast resistance and comparable production to the highest yielding varieties on the market. “The Max-Ace Rice Cropping Solution is in high demand for its outstanding grass weed control with Highcard herbicide in rice, and RiceTec is doing all that we can to provide seed for our growers,” Pasqualli said. “Max-Ace will give an additional herbicide rotation partner to steward weed resistance in herbicide tolerant rice solutions.” RiceTec recommends planting RTv7231 MA at 800,000 to 900,000 seeds per acre, since it is a variety. The company recommends planting RT7331 MA at its standard hybrid seeding rate of 450,000 seeds per acre. With the early maturity of RTv7231 MA, it will be important to ensure harvesting at the optimal 18% to 20% grain moisture, which could be easily overlooked, he said. In field trials so far, the Max-Ace system has provided excellent yield performance, good disease resistance, and strong weed control and crop tolerance when paired with Highcard herbicide, Pasqualli said.

Postscript label changes Label changes to Postscript herbicide this year will offer greater rotational flexibility if growers want to plant MaxAce rice the season following FullPage rice, said Dave Feist, Adama product strategy manager for rice. In the past, labels for Preface and Postscript — Adama’s imidazolinone herbicides labeled exclusively for use on FullPage rice — contained 18-month plant-back restrictions for non-IMI rice cultivars. Concerns about herbicide carryover in the soil prompted the warning. But research has found the Postscript formulation does not pose the same risk. With the new label language, growers who use Postscript for both applications on FullPage rice one season can plant a non-IMI rice the following year. The label for Preface, which contains the active ingredient imazethapyr, still carries the 18-month plant-back restrictions for non-IMI rice. TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

With new label language, growers who use Postscript herbicide for both applications on FullPage rice one season can plant a nonIMI rice the following year. VICKY BOYD

MAY 2021

RICE FARMING

A wake-up call Reduced pyrethroid efficacy against rice stink bugs prompts call for strict adherence to IPM. By Vicky Boyd Editor

Treatment timing is important To help preserve pyrethroids, Lorenz and his University of Arkansas colleagues recommend against tankmixing a pyrethroid with a fungicide for application at the boot spray timing. “That’s two weeks before rice stink bugs will be in the field, so

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

BRANTLEE SPAKES RICHTER, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, BUGWOOD.ORG

or the past two seasons, University of Arkansas entomologists have documented a concerning decline in the efficacy of a popular insecticide used to control rice stink bugs. The findings about pyrethroids should be a wake-up call for growers to adopt an integrated pest management plan to prolong the products’ efficacy, they said. Included in those practices should be scouting, following treatment thresholds and rotating effective modes of action. “We just don’t have a lot of tools in the tool box,” said Gus Lorenz, University of Arkansas Extension entomologist and director of the Lonoke Research and Extension Center. “If we need to spray for rice stink bug, there’s a limited number of products that are available.” That said, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to register another insecticide for rice stink bugs in the near future. Even then, growers and consultants will still only have a handful from which to choose. The reduced efficacy of pyrethoids isn’t limited to Arkansas, either. Mississippi State University Extension entomologist Jeff Gore said they’ve received some complaints during the past two years. “In all cases, the consultants have been successful with a second application with a pyrethroid,” he said. “At this point, we haven’t done adequate testing to confirm resistance but plan to do that work.” Kelly Tindall, a field crop research entomologist at the University of Missouri’s Delta Research Center in Portageville, conducted the last tests 10 years ago. At the time, Mississippi rice stink bug populations were more susceptible to pyrethroids than those from other states, Gore said. “So it will be interesting to see how it has changed,” he said. Blake Wilson, Louisiana State University AgCenter rice entomologist, said he also received reports of poor control from lambda-cyhalothrin on a small number of fields in 2019. He also heard from two consultants in 2020 about control issues. “One of the consultants indicated he would spray Tenchu (dinotefuran) on all his acres (in 2021),” Wilson said. “To me, this suggests it’s not widespread, but it was definitely an issue last year and may be getting worse.”

you’re not getting any benefit out of that,” Lorenz said. “And pyrethroids only have a residual of two to three days, maybe five tops.” Growers may view the insecticide addition as cheap insurance, but stink bugs typically don’t move into rice fields until the crop has headed. That’s why the University of Arkansas doesn’t even recommend scouting for the pest until 75% of the heads have emerged from the panicles. Then growers and consultants should continue to scout until grain maturity. By putting out an early pyrethroid application, they are exposing what stink bugs are present mostly along the field edges to the insecticide and selecting for tolerant ones. During the past few years, growers also have had to spray a lot of fields for rice stink bugs later in the season. “I think by the time we got into September, we had knocked out the bulk of the susceptible population,” said Nick Bateman, University of Arkansas Extension entomologist based at the Stuttgart Rice Research and Extension Center. Field trials back up his observations. In 2019, researchers sprayed plots with 1X (label rate) and 4X (four times the label rate) rates of lambda-cyhalothrin. They returned 24 hours later to rate rice stink bug control. Plots that received 4X rates were clean whereas plots that received 1X rate had only about 60% control. The researchers repeated the trials in 2020 and found only about 60% control with both the 1X and 4X rates. RICEFARMING.COM

VICKY BOYD

Scout, follow thresholds As part of an IPM program, the entomologists say growers and consultants should scout and only make applications when thresholds are met or exceeded. Check with state Extension entomologists for rice stink bug thresholds in your state. During the first two weeks of heading, the University of Arkansas recommends treating if stink bug densities average five or more per 10 sweeps. During the third and four weeks of heading, applications are recommended when stink bug numbers reach 10 insects per 10 sweeps. Based on research, the University of Arkansas has found insecticide applications are warranted until 60% hard dough is observed across 50% of the field. Because kernels can be at different stages of maturity on the same panicle, a simpler method involves counting the number of straw-colored grains and green-colored grains. If 60% or more of the grains are straw colored across 50% of the field, then growers won’t see a benefit from an insecticide application. Rice stink bug infestations also tend to be worse in early and late-planted fields because the insects key in on the few fields in the area with headed rice on which to feed, Bateman said. In the middle of the season, stink bugs are more dispersed among the numerous fields in the area with rice at heading. Growers can still use pyrethroids for the first application, but the entomologists recommend rotating to a different mode of action should stink bug populations rebound and exceed thresholds once again. In the majority of University of Arkansas field trials over the years, stink bug control did not differ significantly between Tenchu 20SG and lambda-cy, Bateman said. “When you get to those bad numbers, if you have to make a second application after lambda, you’re probably going to have to make a second application after Tenchu, too,” Lorenz said. But Lorenz said he understands the economics behind growers’ decisions to lean heavily on lambda-cy. “It’s really hard to get away from lambda when it’s a buck and a half (per acre),” he said. “But if we have an issue with stink bug resistance to lambda eventually, it’s going to mean a lot more money for the growers to control them. Especially if we have to treat a couple of times, you’re looking at the cost of the product plus the cost of the airplane or $50 to $60 per acre, and you don’t want to do that.” Belchim Crop Protection, which markets Tenchu 20SG, has

Wait until 75% heading to begin scouting for rice stink bugs, and only treat when thresholds are met.

listened and plans to reduce the price of its insecticide by more than 20% this season, said Don Long, Belchim national technical service and development manager. In addition to providing residual control of up to two to three weeks, he said dinotefuron, the active ingredient in Tenchu, is safe to use around crawfish. New registration pending Federal and state registrations are pending on another stink bug material, Endigo ZCX, from Syngenta. The premix contains lambda-cyhalothrin and thiamethoxam. During the past few years, University of Arkansas Extension entomologists had the product in field trials where the “results were very positive,” Lorenz said. “The performance of Endigo was better than lambda overall, but I don’t know how much residual you get from the thiamethoxam part of it.” Whether growers use the product once it is registered will likely depend on the price, he said. Recently, Lorenz said they received a phone call asking about the efficacy of carbaryl for rice stink bugs. Although the insecticide has performed well in trials, he said many other countries will reject commodities that test positive for carbaryl residue. As a result, he would not recommend the product for rice stink bug control.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

Aaron Cato, then a senior entomology graduate student, demonstrated improved field sweeping techniques in 2018. Cato is now a University of Arkansas Extension specialist, horticulture IPM.

TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

MAY 2021

RICE FARMING

Got billbugs? Combination seed treatments help reduce damage and increase yields, but you must plan ahead. By Vicky Boyd Editor

s the number of row rice acres increases, so does the potential for infestations and damage by billbugs — inch-long weevils that prefer dry land over ﬂooded ground. In 2020, Arkansas growers planted about 230,000 acres — or about 16% of the overall state acreage — of row rice, also known as furrow-irrigated rice. And some industry experts expect the trend to continue with a modest increase this season. Through trials and observations in both the ﬁeld and greenhouses, University of Arkansas researchers continue to unravel the mysteries behind the rice billbug. Although many questions remain and a number of new ones have cropped up, they have found that overtreating seed with a diamide insecticide helps reduce the pest and associated damage. Still to be addressed are the number of generations, reproductive rates, alternate hosts, potential foliar treatments, possible treatment thresholds, and pheromone or plant-based attractants for trap lures. Entomologists at Mississippi State University and the Louisiana State University AgCenter also are conducting billbug trials based on their geographic production practices.

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

Under a worse-case scenario, billbugs can cause significant yield loss. CHASE FLOYD

A one-two combo For the past two years, graduate student Chase Floyd has been working with University of Arkansas Extension entomologists Gus Lorenz, Nick Bateman and Ben Thrash as part of his doctoral research into billbugs. They plan to continue their research this season. Although trials show combination seed treatments signiﬁcantly improve yields in billbug-infested ﬁelds, the researchers say growers and consultants need to think proactively.

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In Arkansas, rice growers tend to favor a neonicotinoid seed treatment, such as NipSit Inside or Cruiser Maxx, because it controls both rice water weevils and grape colaspis. Although diamides also are strong on rice water weevils, they do not have activity against grape colaspis, a soilborne pest that also feeds on soybeans. University of Arkansas researchers have had encouraging ﬁeld trial results when they applied Fortenza or Dermacor seed treatment over seed already treated with a neonicotinoid. Fortenza and Dermacor are diamides. Hybrids from RiceTec typically come with the Cruiser Maxx Rice seed treatment, which contains thiamethoxam. Adding a Fortenza overtreatment adds about $7 to $8 per acre whereas adding Dermacor will run about $12 per acre, Bateman said. In trials, a diamide overtreatment resulted in an average yield increase of 15 bushels per acre, more than paying for itself, he said. The results were similar whether or not billbugs were present. “We can make it pay for itself, regardless of pest pressure,” Bateman said. “If billbugs were present, the diamides will help reduce their numbers but it won’t be 100%.” That’s because even as they fed on plants treated with Fortenza or Dermacor, it took six and nine days, respectively, for TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

PHOTOS BY CHASE FLOYD

Adult billbugs may overwinter buried 5 to 6 inches deep in soil.

A dead leaf, surrounded by green vegetation, is a red flag that billbugs were likely feeding on that plant.

the weevils to die, Floyd said, referring to greenhouse trial data. In those same trials, it took 19 and 21 days for billbugs to die as they fed on plants treated with NipSit and Cruiser Maxx, respectively. Foliar treatments struck out The University of Arkansas researchers also looked at foliar applications of several insecticides, both registered and unregistered. They hoped to ﬁnd products growers could use once they saw damage. Unfortunately, the researchers have so far struck out. “As far as treatments from a foliar standpoint, we haven’t found anything that’s reliable,” Bateman said. “We see no reduction in damage from a foliar standpoint.” That may be due to the billbug’s behavior of feeding at the base of young rice plants. The female chews a small hole at the base of a plant into which she deposits a single egg. The larva is protected as it feeds inside the tiller as well as below the soil surface into the crown. It is this feeding by both adults and larvae that causes leaves to die and panicles to blank. Survey for symptoms Walking through ﬁelds, Floyd said he found feeding holes 91% of the time he examined dead leaves. Seeing that got

him thinking about how it could be used to determine billbug presence rather than waiting until you see blank panicles later in the season. “The ﬁrst sign they’re in the rice is if you’re looking at the tillers as that new plant material is coming out of the growing point, it will be completely dead,” Floyd said. “It will stick out like a ﬂag. The biggest thing to get used to is the sheath will still be green, but new material coming out of the sheath will be yellow.”

“The billbugs haven’t had to seek out other hosts, and the damage has consistently gone up on a yearly basis.” Based on surveys conducted in 2019 and 2020, Floyd said he saw the first billbug feeding symptom — a dead leaf — 58% of the time at the three- to four-tiller growth stage. And 83% of the time he saw the first symptom before green ring. The leaf dies five to six days after adult billbug feeding, Floyd said, citing limited greenhouse studies. But he was quick to point out that the studies were under controlled conditions and may not represent what is happening in the field. Interestingly, plants with dead leaves MAY 2021

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2021

For more information, go to ricefarming.com/rcoy or go to Page 15 in this issue of Rice Farming.

Submit nominations by July 15, 2021.

S P O N S O R E D

B Y

Abbreviated Rules. No Purchase Necessary. Contest ends on 7/15/21 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 in the rice farming industry. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Corteva Agriscience, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268.

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MAY 2021

Billbugs are inch-long weevils that prefer dry ground to flooded rice paddies. As a result, they have become an increasing problem in row rice, also known as furrow-irrigated rice.

respond by producing two more tillers than the non-infested plants, he said. “It seems the rice is trying to compensate, but it’s not enough,” Floyd said. In the end, infested fields typically yield less than uninfested fields, with the reduction depending on the extent of the infestation. This year, he said he hopes to develop a sliding scale to assess the infestation severity based on the number of dead leaves and healthy tillers per plant. Where billbugs spend the winter The researchers have yet to pinpoint where most billbugs overwinter, although Floyd has found them along the edges of previously infested rice fields in the soil buried 5 to 6 inches deep. He also has surveyed grassy turn-rows around harvested rice fields and found larvae and pupae as well as adults. The researchers believe adult billbugs may spend the spring in these grassy edges and move into row rice fields as plants reach the three- to five-tiller stage. But they’ve also noted a significantly greater risk of infestation should a row rice field have a previous history of billbugs and be near a tree line. In addition, fields farmed continuously in row rice, such as one in Jackson County that has been in the system for five years, appear to allow pest numbers to build. “The billbugs haven’t had to seek out other hosts, and the damage has consistently gone up on a yearly basis,” Bateman said. Crop rotation also doesn’t appear to affect populations. Floyd said he had visited a severely infested row rice field near

CHASE FLOYD

Recognize an outstanding consultant for his or her dedication, leadership and innovation in the U.S. rice industry.

VICKY BOYD

Submit a nomination for the 2021 Rice Consultant of the Year Award.

In 91% of the cases where dead leaves were observed, Chase Floyd found feeding holes.

Stuttgart in 2019, and he found the pest overwintering in nearby grasses. In 2020, the farmer rotated to soybeans, and the billbugs just seemed to move to an adjacent row rice field. “Gus, Nick and Ben all went to that field in 2020,” Floyd said. “It was the worst field I saw across the state.” The researchers also suspect that billbugs migrate into row rice fields and are possibly drawn by plant volatiles emitted when the plants begin to tiller. As a result, Neelendra Joshi, an associate professor in the University of Arkansas Department of Entomology and Pathology, is working to identify possible pheromones or plant volatiles that could be used as trap lures. RICEFARMING.COM

2021

N O M I N A T I O N

Nominate an outstanding consultant for the Rice Consultant of the Year Award. Sponsored by Corteva Agriscience and Rice Farming magazine, the annual award recognizes the dedication, leadership and innovation of this crucial segment of the U.S. rice industry. “Crop consultants are invaluable to rice farming operations throughout the Mid-South. The agronomic advice consultants provide ensures the future profitability and viability of the rice industry for generations to come,” says Clark Smith, product manager for rice herbicides, Corteva Agriscience.

SUBMIT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION Please use a separate page for biographical/professional information. Additional recommendation letters from rice farmers, consultants and industry members in support of the nominee are encouraged.

F O R M

“At Corteva, we are honored to sponsor the Rice Consultant of the Year Award, recognizing those consultants who most exceed expectations for their contributions to the rice industry,” he says. The RCOY Award recipient will:  Be featured in a four-page salute in Rice Farming magazine and honored at a special recognition event.  Receive a personalized Rice Consultant of the Year jacket. The award recipient and nominator each will receive one night’s hotel stay and round-trip travel to the event.

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Abbreviated Rules. No Purchase Necessary. Contest ends on 7/15/21 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 in the rice farming industry. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Corteva Agriscience, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268. ™

Pest continues expansion Giant snails so far appear to be more damaging to crawfish production than to rice. By Blake Wilson, Julian Lucero and Mark Shirley

BLAKE WILSON, LSU AGCENTER

Apple snail egg mass on a rice plant.

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

So far, minimal damage So far, their damage to U.S. rice has been minimal. The widespread adoption of drill-seeding rice (planting into a dry seed bed) and applying the permanent flood approximately five weeks after planting seems to have mitigated the impact of snails in Texas rice. Drill seeding is also prevalent in southwest Louisiana, which suggests the snails may be of minimal impact here. However, water management practices are more variable in Louisiana, with some acreage flooded continuously during rice production. Pest potential under these conditions may be greater. The snails can also interfere with rice production by burrowing into levees, requiring farmers to do additional maintenance. There is also potential for beneficial effects because some reports from Texas indicate the snails consume problematic aquatic weeds, such as ducksalad, while leaving the rice alone. Ongoing cage trials are examining what the snails are feeding on in rice fields and under what conditions they may develop into pests. While evidence collected to

MARK SHIRLEY, LSU AGCENTER

Members of the Wilson Entomology Lab set up field cages to study impacts of snails in rice fields and potential chemical controls.

BLAKE WILSON, LSU AGCENTER

nvasive apple snails — sometimes called giant, golden or channeled apple snails — are native to South America but have been introduced into many regions. Several species of apple snails are invasive pests in many parts of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. The species that has been introduced along the U.S. Gulf Coast is Pomacea maculata. The snails have been in Louisiana for more than 10 years and have been the focus of ecological research because of their consumption of vast quantities of subaquatic vegetation, eliminating habitat for fish and aquatic invertebrates. Apple snails are not picky eaters. They consume many types of living and decaying vegetation in addition to protein sources such as the eggs of frogs and other amphibians. Apple snails reproduce rapidly and are known for reaching high population densities in freshwater habitats including rivers, bayous, ponds and swamps. The first sign of apple snail invasion into new bodies of water is often the appearance of bright pink egg masses laid on structures and plants emerging from the water. In 2018, rice and crawfish farmers started reporting high populations of apple snails in their ponds. This discovery was of concern because apple snails are considered major pests of rice in Spain, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Central America and other regions where they consume seedling rice.

A large apple snail in the entrance of a crawfish trap.

date suggests the snails may not be terribly damaging to rice in Louisiana, the situation appears to be more dire for the state’s crawfish producers. Apple snails are reaching high populations in crawfish ponds in some areas and are affecting production. The omnivorous snails are attracted to the bait in crawfish traps. Smaller snails can enter traps and accumulate in large numbers, while larger snails block trap entrances, greatly reducing the daily crawfish capture. Farmers also have to sort through the capture to remove the snails. Snails expand territory At some farms, apple snails are caught RICEFARMING.COM

in such high numbers that finding a place to dispose of them is problematic. Crawfish producers in parts of Vermilion and Jefferson Davis parishes have found the situation so severe that fishing had to be stopped and ponds drained early in the crawfish season. Laboratory and field trials are examining potential controls that can eliminate the snails without adverse effects on crawfish growth and development. Expansion into rice and crawfish ponds from natural bodies such as the Vermilion and Mermentau rivers was facilitated by the 2016 flood. Following detection of this expansion, LSU AgCenter scientists initiated an invasive species monitoring program across nine southwest Louisiana parishes. This program aims to identify the snails’ current distribution as well as determine the rates of expansion and modes of introduction into new ponds. Currently, apple snails are using the Vermilion River, Bayou Carlin and Delcambre Canal to extend populations north from Vermilion Bay into rice fields in eastern Vermilion, Lafayette and Acadia parishes. Other apple snail populations are moving from Lake Arthur and the Mermentau Basin into Jefferson Davis Parish and western Vermilion Parish (Figure 1). Much of the region is not infested, but further range expansion is anticipated. Introduction onto new farms is likely to continue because many farmers use surface water connected to these major waterways as their primary irrigation source. While some introductions are unavoidable, farmers are being encouraged to prevent accidental transportation of the snails to new areas by checking equipment for egg masses before moving between ponds and by stocking ponds with crawfish only from sources known to be noninfested with apple snails. People are encouraged to contact their local AgCenter Extension offices if they believe they have observed apple snails in new areas in southwest Louisiana. Health risks associated with apple snails While many adventurous Louisianans may be wondering how to best prepare the snails for dinner, people considering consuming these mollusks should exercise caution. The snails are edible when thoroughly cooked and properly cleaned by removing all intestinal material. However, raw or undercooked snails can contain rat lungworm, a parasite that can cause potentially fatal eosinophilic TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

Figure 1. Estimated distribution of apple snails in rice and crawfish production regions of southwest Louisiana as of 2019. Map based on monitoring of 47 rice and crawfish sites in addition to detections provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.

meningitis. Other health risks are associated with the pink egg masses. The hot pink color serves as a warning to alert potential predators that the eggs are toxic. The eggs contain a protein neurotoxin called PcPV2, which has been shown to be lethal to mice and can cause irritation of the skin and eyes in humans. Destruction of the eggs should be done using an implement to knock egg masses into the water, where they are prevented from hatching.

Skin exposed to apple snail eggs should be washed immediately. Blake Wilson is an assistant professor at the Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel. Julian Lucero is a graduate student in the Department of Entomology, and Mark Shirley is a crawfish specialist and marine Extension agent in the Southwest Region for the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant.

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Tall wading bird has ravenous appetite for apple snails

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MAY 2021

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES

visitor from Florida that has taken up residence in Terrebonne Parish could be good news in Louisiana’s fight against the invasive apple snail. At least three pairs of limpkins (Aramus guarauna), a wading bird found primarily in Florida’s freshwater marshes, are now breeding in Terrebonne Parish. The upside is that limpkins have a ravenous appetite for apple snails, an invasive species that has exploded in abundance in south Louisiana waterways and marshes and are difficult to eradicate. Apple snails can easily overpopulate areas by outcompeting native species and destroying aquatic vegetation. “It really looks like limpkins are getting a foothold here,’’ said Robert Dobbs, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ nongame ornithologist. “Seemingly, as soon as they showed up, they started breeding. We’re only talking about three or four pairs that we know of at this point, but that’s remarkable for a bird that was first discovered in the state only four years ago.” And while only a handful of pairs have been confirmed so far, there could be more, Dobbs said. He believes that a wandering limpkin or two happened upon ideal, food-rich habitat in Louisiana, and they are staying here because of the abundance of the apple snail, their favorite food. Limpkins, once almost hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 20th century, resemble a crane or a long-legged rail. They are found primarily in the American tropics and in Florida in the United States. “Most likely, you might confuse them with an immature white ibis, or a glossy or white-faced ibis,’’ Dobbs said. “Immature white ibises have a lot of dark on them and glossy and white-faced ibis are all dark, long-legged birds with decurved bills. Limpkins have more white speckling in their dark plumage, and their bills are not as curved as ibises, but they’re superficially similar to ibises in general.”

Limpkins’ long, slightly curved bills are perfectly suited for extracting apple snails from their shells.

Bills well suited to extract apple snails Limpkins are known for their loud wails that can be heard at night or dawn. Their long, slightly curved bills are perfectly suited for extracting apple snails from their shells. Dobbs said they pose no downside for Louisiana’s other wading birds. “They wander around naturally,’’ he said. “They’ve wandered up the East Coast in the past and around the Southeast. Typically, when they show up out of range, they eat clams and other mollusks for a while, and then they leave. They generally don’t persist in those odd places well outside of their core range. It’s possible we had some birds wandering around and they happened upon the Terrebonne-Lafourche area, which is full of apple snails. So why leave? There’s a ton of food. The habitat is good. Presumably the climate is OK. They’ve persisted thus far, and they’ve been nesting for three years now.” The first recorded observance of limpkins in Louisiana was in 2017 in Lafourche Parish. Then in the spring of 2018, a pair nested successfully near Houma. Other pairs were noted in 2019 at Bayou Black

in western Terrebonne Parish and in 2020 near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, also in Terrebonne Parish. Dobbs said the limpkin isn’t a solution for the apple snail problem, as there are probably too few breeding pairs at present to really impact the apple snail on a landscape scale. “At this point, there aren’t enough limpkins to make much of an impact on the apple snail population,’’ he said. “But if this trend continues and limpkins really do become established, it’s possible that they could provide some level of bio control.” Dobbs said that similar scenarios have occurred elsewhere in which apple snails show up and become established, followed by limpkins about 10 years later. Apple snails first appeared in Louisiana in the mid-2000s. Now, about 10 years later, the limpkin has followed. “We believe the pairs here now showed up from Florida and have not left,” he said. “There is no evidence that they’re migrating back and forth. They came and stayed.” The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries contributed this article. RICEFARMING.COM

Specialists

Therefore, a later granular application applied around the twoto three-leaf stage of rice or a foliar application applied after tillering is necessary for good control. Remember that it is ineffective to apply an herbicide once the weeds have headed (gone to seed), as the seeds may already be viable and will not be killed by the herbicide. Preventing weeds from going to seed is important for longterm weed management, as the seeds are deposited in the soil seedbank and may be viable for many years. Sedge control depends on the species. For smallflower umbrella sedge, herbicide resistance is widespread. Therefore, it may be necessary to make multiple applications, one early in the season and a follow-up later in the season with a different mode of action. For ricefield bulrush, resistance is not yet widespread, and one herbicide application is usually enough to control it. Broadleaf control is important, but thankfully, herbicide resistance is only found in redstem (redberry) and some arrowhead, and it does not appear to be widespread nor is it multiple-herbicide resistant. Ducksalad and monochoria are still susceptible to labeled herbicides. The most difficult part of controlling broadleaf weeds is they are not uniform across the rice-growing region. It is therefore important to know the species in each field, as many herbicides are not broad-spectrum on broadleafs.

Stay ahead of weeds, and don’t let them go to seed DR. WHITNEY BRIM-DEFOREST

CALIFORNIA University of California Cooperative Extension Rice Adviser Sutter, Yuba, Placer and Sacramento Counties wbrimdeforest@ucanr.edu This season started fast and a bit earlier than normal. Temperatures have also been relatively warm, meaning that rice planted early in the season was able to get well established, likely with vigorous early growth. Weeds will also respond to the warm temperatures, germinating earlier and growing more rapidly due to the faster accumulation of growing degree days. For watergrass control, we are having increasing issues every year due to the spread of multiple herbicide-resistant late watergrass and barnyardgrass, as well as a possible new biotype that appears to be resistant or tolerant to most of our grass herbicides. Yield decreases from grasses are higher than any other weed of rice, so it is important to get them under control early. The longer they are allowed to compete with the rice, the greater the yield impact. A preemergent herbicide or the use of a stale seedbed in heavily infested fields will ensure that the rice can better outcompete the grasses early in the season. For good control, the most effective herbicide plan involves multiple early season applications with a mix of modes of action. A late-season foliar application (cleanup application) may also be necessary. We now know that sprangletop can emerge in anaerobic (flooded) conditions, even when fields are continuously flooded. Sprangletop was previously thought to be able to emerge only when a field had been drained. However, due to the slower emergence under flooded conditions compared to flushed conditions, early granular herbicide applications may not fully control sprangletop. (The herbicide will have dissipated before the weeds have emerged).

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Don’t let late-season issues get in your pocket DR. JARROD T. HARDKE

ARKANSAS Assoc. Professor/Rice Extension Agronomist University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture jhardke@uada.edu

MATTHEW QUINTON

Bearded sprangletop (left) and Mexican springletop

Speaking

Disease and insects in rice always seem to try to get in our pocket late in the season. A few general guidelines can help us best manage these problems while minimizing their impact on our profitability. Sheath blight and the smuts (kernel and false) are the most common disease issues each season. With sheath blight, we have the ability to scout and spray based on cultivar susceptibility and disease progress. Remember that after midseason when you have greater than 50% positive stops on moderately susceptible cultivars or greater than 35% on susceptible or very susceptible cultivars, fungicide treatment may be warranted. However, just because sheath blight can be found doesn’t mean it’s at treatment level. It also needs to be threatening the three uppermost leaves in the canopy. If we can make it to 50% heading (panicle beginning to emerge from 50% of main tillers) with the upper three leaves clean, then we have outrun sheath blight. So the threshold is based on cultivar susceptibility, percent positive stops for sheath blight in the field and progress of the MAY 2021

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Specialists

Speaking

disease up the plant, which is dependent on favorable conditions. If we fail to meet these three requirements, then a fungicide application is generally not economically warranted. For the smuts, unfortunately, fungicide applications must be made preventatively before we know if we have the disease for certain. Fields with a history of either kernel or false smut, planted to susceptible cultivars and that received excess nitrogen fertilization are candidates for a fungicide application to prevent disease development. The optimum application timing is mid-boot as flag leaves are coming out or just out. If you delay to split boot, then a fungicide application is unlikely to be effective. Rice stink bug is always a moving target in terms of pressure each year. We recommend scouting beginning when 75% of plants are heading. The first two weeks after heading, treat when five or more rice stink bugs per 10 sweeps are found. The second two weeks after heading, treat when 10 or more stink bugs per 10 sweeps are found. An additional point to make on rice stink bugs is when to stop spraying for them. Recent Arkansas research has shown that when 60% of panicles are hard dough (straw-colored kernels) or beyond, rice stink bug can no longer cause economical damage. When we say, “hard dough, let it go,” we’re referring to the majority of the panicle being in hard dough. Good luck managing these late-season issues in 2021 — hopefully conditions will be in the crop’s favor and not the pests.

Figure 1. Feeding damage on soybean foliage by green cloverworm in September 2020.

Lessons learned for soybean rust preparation PHOTOS BY YOUNG-KI JO, TEXAS A&M

DR. YOUNG-KI JO

TEXAS Professor & Extension Specialist Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology Texas A&M University ykjo@tamu.edu First, I would like to take a moment to mention the retirement of my mentor, collaborator and colleague, Dr. M.O. Way. The void created in his absence can be felt in many places; already I miss his monthly articles in Rice Farming magazine describing current issues and providing insightful advice for Texas rice and row crops. His contributions and care to the Texas rice industry for the past 38 years will be remembered for a long time to come. Dr. Way’s retirement has led me to reflect on our last collaborative soybean field trial in the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at Beaumont. Our original research plan for 2020 was disrupted by pest and disease outbreaks that seriously damaged our test crops. Our soybeans were planted in mid-May and we originally planned to test fungicide effectiveness for common foliar diseases. But later that summer, green cloverworm (Hypena scabra) caterpillars devoured most of the leaves, leaving only leaf skeletons on the field plots that were not protected by insecticides (Figure 1). This blow was worsened in October when the field spared from the insects was hit hard by soybean rust (Phakopso-

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

Figure 2. Soybean rust outbreak in October 2020. Yellow leaves caused by the disease are apparent in the right row (untreated control) compared with the left row which was protected by fungicides.

ra pachyrhizi) (Figure 2). Later, the soybean plots that were not protected by fungicides were highly infected with rust and mostly defoliated, leading to 25%-30% yield loss. Green cloverworms are common in Texas and relatively easy to control with insecticide applications. The major challenge is to detect the presence of caterpillars early since young instars of pale green larvae can easily go unseen. Implementation of timely insecticide use before they cause economic damage is the key for managing foliage-feeding caterpillars. In contrast to the common cloverworms, an outbreak of soybean rust in the summer had never been observed in Jefferson County. Reports have been found of this occurring at low frequency in the late season but in southern Texas. RICEFARMING.COM

After surprising weather conditions such as high wind, above-average precipitation and cool temperatures in the late summer and early fall, the yellow leaves and numerous rust-colored speckle symptoms of the disease were clearly seen. When infected leaves were touched, visible floating dusts — the rust spores — drifted off. Eventually the infected leaves were dropped and only bare stalks remained. Such foliar damage directly will result in decreased yield losses with the magnitude of damage increasing as the earlier infection occurs. There are three major tips to avoid the worst-case scenario in which high infection during the early plant growth stages leads to significant yield losses. First, use rust-resistant soybean plants; scientists are currently working to develop stronger varieties and make them commercially available to U.S. farmers. Second, plant your crop early in the season using early maturing cultivars; mature plants are less vulnerable to the harmful effects of the disease. Third, the most practical and effective means of managing soybean rust is the preventative application of fungicide on R2-4 growth stages. Chlorothalonil, strobilurin or triazole fungicides have shown to be effective but early application remains crucial. This severe incident of soybean rust was seen for the first time in eastern Texas, meaning we may have another disease to take into account when planning soybeans this year. The conducive environmental conditions for rust are cool weather with high moisture often brought by hurricanes in the summer. Hopefully, this coming Atlantic hurricane season will be different from the record-breaking one in 2020. The good side of the winter storms hitting Texas in February is that the soybean rust will not survive in freezing temperatures, giving us a head start in managing rust this year. But be ready to take more preventative approaches learned from the last year’s events. Early scouting for foliage-feeding caterpillars and soybean rust cannot be overemphasized. If you find many small green caterpillars or early symptoms of rust in the lower plant canopy at early growth stages, consult with county agents and experts and react in a timely fashion.

Scout, stay on top of rice diseases DR. RONNIE LEVY

LOUISIANA Extension Rice Specialist Louisiana State University RLevy@agcenter.lsu.edu Rice disease development varies due to the variety or hybrid you have chosen to plant, the presence of the disease pathogen and the current environment for that pathogen to develop. The most common diseases in rice that we can use a fungicide to manage include blast, sheath blight, Cercospora (narrow brown leaf spot) and smut (kernel smut and false smut). Scouting is an important in-season tool used to determine the presence and severity of rice diseases, particularly for sheath TWITTER: @RICEFARMING

Speaking

COURTESY LSU AGCENTER

Specialists

For sheath blight (pictured), cultivars that range from very susceptible to susceptible will experience an economic loss if 5% to 10% of the tillers are infected during vegetative stages. For moderately susceptible cultivars, the level is 15%.

blight and blast. And it should start early in the season. When scouting a field, make sure your disease evaluation is based on the whole field, not just a localized area. There is no easy way to do this. You must cover the entire field, making as many stops as necessary to check for present diseases. At each stop, you will want to evaluate if the disease is present on approximately a 3-foot section by opening the canopy. If you find disease, you may want to subjectively rate the severity of the disease from 1 to 10. A 1 rating would indicate that only one or two lesions were present, with a 10 rating being a complete infestation. For sheath blight, cultivars that range from very susceptible to susceptible will experience an economic loss if 5% to 10% of the tillers are infected during vegetative stages. For moderately susceptible cultivars, the level is 15%. At these levels, consider using a fungicide. For blast control, apply a foliar fungicide at early heading (50% to 70% heads emerging) when leaf blast symptoms are present. Leaf blast does not always precede rotten-neck blast, and preventive applications of a fungicide may be warranted if a blast-susceptible variety is grown. The best timing against Cercospora is between panicle differentiation and boot growth stages. The later the rice is planted, the earlier the fungicide must be applied for Cercospora. Boot applications of the proper fungicides can reduce kernel smut or false smut. Fungicide applications for smuts after boot split have little if any activity. Fungicide timing is critical for disease control. Growth stages change quickly, so it is important to scout for the rice growth stage while scouting for disease. Rice disease control using a single fungicide application is becoming more difficult because of fungal resistance to fungicides, multiple diseases requiring different timings for effective control and higher multiple applications being warranted. Rice producers are encouraged to use full label rates, rotate modes of actions and use multiple fungicide applications when justified to effectively — and economically — manage rice diseases. Additional information on rice disease control can be found at www.lsuagcenter.com/ricediseases. MAY 2021

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Greenway donates $2 million to the University of Arkansas’ NERREC

The new Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center in Poinsett County, Arkansas, received a $2 million boost from Greenway Equipment. The gift provides $1 million for agricultural equipment at the station and $1 million toward construction of the NERREC exhibition hall, which will be a community resource. Greenway executives John Conner Jr., chairman; Marshall Stewart, CEO; Steve Smith, chief financial officer; and Bill Midkiff, president, announced the donation April 16 with a check presentation at the station south of Jonesboro on Arkansas Highway 1. The center is being built by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and will provide new research into rice production practices for northeast Arkansas. Over the past few years, rice production in the state has expanded northward. Differing soils in northeast Arkansas require different production practices from the rest of the state. When complete, the station will also have research labs, facilities for public meetings, and a learning space for educating grade school students and the general public about Arkansas rice production.

There’s still time to submit a 2021 Rice Award nomination

Between multiple hurricanes, the ongoing COVID pandemic, market disruptions and the big deep freeze, the past few seasons have been a challenge, to say the least. But several leaders have stepped up to put the rice industry first. Nominate them for one of three 2021 Rice Awards. The Rice Farmer of the Year recognizes a farmer who also has shown strong industry leadership. The Rice Industry Award honors a non-farmer who has also shown strong industry leadership. The Rice Lifetime Achievement Award pays tribute to someone who has spent his or her life bettering the rice industry. A nomination form is available on page 5. You may also nominate someone online by clicking on the “2021 Rice Award” button on the Rice Farming website, www.ricefarming.com. Deadline for nominations is June 30. For more information or questions, contact Carroll Smith at 901-326-4443 and leave a voice mail or email her at csmith@onegrower.com.

2018 Rice Award winners (from left): Skip Hula, Rice Farmer of the Year; Earl Garber, Rice Industry Award; and Marvin Hare, Rice Lifetime Achievement Award.

Winners will be featured in a special print tribute in the December issue of Rice Farming and recognized during the awards luncheon at the USA Rice Outlook Conference. The Rice Awards are sponsored by Horizon Ag, USA Rice and Rice Farming magazine.

AR Game & Fish offers payments to producers for habitat, hunting access

The Arkansas Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement program was developed by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists to help keep waste rice available for ducks, geese and other migrating birds when they pass through each winter. It has recently been expanded to allow weekend permitted public waterfowl hunting on participating rice fields. Farmers harvest their rice fields as normal, but they can receive added income by leaving stubble and flooding fields during waterfowl migration and allowing permitted public hunting. Fall tillage is becoming increasingly popular with Arkansas rice growers, but the practice isn’t beneficial for migrating birds looking to find the fuel they need. The tilling buries rice that would have been available to migrating waterfowl. Additionally, the program has expanded to include an opportunity for landowners who have Wetland Reserve Easements on their property. This new portion of the program will pay landowners $50 per acre to allow public access to their currently enrolled WRE properties for hunting and wildlife-viewing throughout the year. Applications are being accepted through June 1. For more information, visit https://www.agfc.com.

CALENDAR Many universities plan, as of press time, to hold in-person field days this season. While we try to be as accurate as possible, the coronavirus has created an ever-changing landscape. Please check with event organizers to make sure it is still planned before you head out.  June 29: Horizon Ag Field Tour Richard Farms, Kaplan, Louisiana. This will be a late-afternoon tour. Contact info@horizonseed.com or 866-237-6167 for information.  June 30: LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station Field Day Crowley, Louisiana, from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If it’s like past years, wagons leave periodically early in the morning to take attendees on field tours. The second half of the field day is spent inside the big warehouse hearing presentations. Contact Drs. Dustin Harrell or Kurt Guidry at 337-788-7531 for more information.

RICE FARMING

MAY 2021

 July 6-8: Rice Market & Technology Convention Woodlands Resort and Conference Center, Texas. This event is hosted by the US Rice Producers Association. Visit https://bit.ly/3gynr2j  Aug. 6: University of Arkansas Rice Field Day (tentative) Rice Research and Experiment Station, Stuttgart, Arkansas.  Aug. 19: University of Arkansas Rohwer Field Day Rohwer Research Station, Rohwer, Arkansas.  Aug. 25 (tentative): California Rice Experiment Station Field Day California Rice Experiment Station, Biggs, California.  Oct. 7 (tentative): University of Arkansas Virtual Rice and Soybean Field Day  Dec. 5-7: 2021 USA Rice Outlook Conference New Orleans, Louisiana. Visit USA Rice at https://bit.ly/3tGY1Dg RICEFARMING.COM

Renew your subscription online We appreciate your reading Rice Farming magazine. The U.S. Postal Service requires that we receive a direct request to continue mailing you our publication. We value your time but ask that you go to www.ricefarming.com to verify the continuation of your FREE subscription. Our editor, Vicky Boyd, strives to provide production tips, new product information and profit-making ideas in every issue. Please take a minute to renew online to ensure you don’t miss a single issue. We would also love to hear about specific topics you feel need more attention to help you produce a successful crop. Thank you for your continued support!

Lia Guthrie Publisher lguthrie@onegrower.com

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Rice Farming May 2021

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