Last year’s post-harvest weather was a big help, giving farmers a chance to knock out field prep. ⋅ BY MARY HIGHTOWER ⋅ About half of Arkansas’ expected 1.45 million acres of rice has been planted, with northeast Arkansas leading the way, said Jarrod Hardke, rice extension agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We’re in great shape in terms of overall planting. We’re probably in the neighborhood of 50 percent planted for rice,” Hardke said on Friday. “In the east-central area, it’s right at 50 percent and potentially as high as 75 percent planted in northeas ..read more

⋅ BY V. TODD MILLER ⋅ A national group of scientists — including two from the LSU AgCenter — has released the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, or FRST, a decision aid providing an unbiased, science-based interpretation of soil test phosphorus and potassium values for crop fertilization. The FRST project is a collaboration of more than 100 soil science and agronomic professionals representing nearly 50 universities, four divisions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, several nonprofit organizations and one private sector partner. This diverse partnership underscores the collective effo ..read more

Seeding Rate Work in Furrow-Irrigated Rice Dr. Justin Chlapecka MISSOURI Assistant Research Professor/ Rice Extension Specialist University of Missouri jchlapecka@missouri.edu We recently wrapped up the “meeting season” circuit, where it seems like we speak about every other day on various research topics that we’ve been looking at throughout the year(s). While meeting season is a great avenue to exchange ideas with other researchers, farmers, consultants, and retailers, I believe most of us are sitting around looking at the calendar and sitting on go. Recent bouts of dry weather and 75 degree ..read more

⋅ BY RYAN LOY ⋅ University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Following two consecutive years of decline (see Figure 1), United States rice production increased to roughly 2.9 million acres in 2023. In 2022 and 2023, the world was consuming more rice, which showed up in the long grain rice Marketing Year Average Prices (MYAP) of $16.70/cwt and $15.7/cwt, respectively. Production increases in 2023 (see Figure 1) followed 2022 high prices that were last seen around harvest of 2013. Fast forward to March 2024, where the then current November rough rice futures contract was trading at $14.66/cwt ..read more

Working as a Team to Find Ways to Improve ⋅ BY CASSIDY NEMEC ⋅ Editor Brian McKenzie (left) and Drew Mullaney have worked together since 2016 on McKenzie’s rice operation. Together, they find what works best management-wise year-to-year based on the challenges and opportunities at hand. Brian McKenzie is a fourth-generation rice grower and California native. While he at first had his sights set on a corporate occupation, he is now sitting around the 20-year mark for growing rice and has not regretted that choice. “I had some really good people I worked for out of college who were not in agricu ..read more

⋅ BY WHITNEY BRIM-DEFOREST ⋅ University of California Cooperative Extension White water fire (Bergia capensis) White water fire (Bergia capensis) was found in September 2023, by the Butte County Agricultural Commissioner’s office in a Butte County rice field. The weed was identified by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It is the first find of this weed in California, and possibly in the United States. It is native to Africa, southern China, and tropical Asia. It is known to be in rice fields in Europe, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. This weed was found in ..read more

MSU Extension Names New Delta Region Coordinator Alex Deason The Mississippi State University Extension Service’s Delta region will soon have new leadership. Alex Deason, who has been an MSU Extension agent based in Sunflower County since 2013, began his new role as regional coordinator March 16. Regional Extension coordinators provide leadership for MSU’s outreach efforts in its four regions and provide administrative direction to Extension agents in the development, implementation, and evaluation of Extension’s educational programs. The primary objective of each program is to improve economi ..read more

Classifying workers as “employees” or “independent contractors” is an important task for agricultural employers because of the legal obligations and protections they owe to their employees. Some agricultural employers hire workers to complete various tasks or provide certain services for their operation, so there are instances where it may be difficult to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a new final rule outlining the factors employers must consider when determining whether a worker is an “e ..read more

Rice Processing Program Develops Guidelines to Maximize Quality, Reduce Energy ⋅ BY JOHN LOVETT ⋅ U of A System Division of Agriculture The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station’s Rice Processing Program has released new recommendations to guide on-farm, in-bin rice drying in Arkansas to maximize quality and energy savings. Griffiths Atungulu, interim director of the Rice Processing Program and associate professor of grain processing and post-harvest system engineering for the Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the new gui ..read more

By Josh Hankins Rice Stewardship USA Rice Nobody can deny that the Biden Administration has put their money where their mouth is when it comes to climate change. Most prominent among their initiatives is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. Part of our mission at USA Rice is to ensure the rice industry seizes every opportunity based on the sustainable practices you can implement — or likely already have implemented — on your farm. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative i ..read more