Specialist 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.

Lessons learned for soybean rust preparation

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-

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

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.

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

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.

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.  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

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