LSU AgCenter rice breeder Xueyan Sha, far left, tells farmers about new lines of rice he is testing this year at an Evangeline Parish field day Tuesday, May 24. (Photo by Bruce Schultz. Click on photo for downloadable image.)

News Release Distributed 05/27/11

MAMOU, La. – New Clearfield lines of rice are being tested that show promising results, LSU AgCenter rice breeders told Evangeline Parish farmers at a field day Tuesday (May 24).

Some lines have produced yields that equaled or surpassed the variety CL151, said Steve Linscombe, LSU AgCenter rice breeder and director of the AgCenter Rice Research Station.

LSU AgCenter rice breeder Xueyan Sha said 28 lines of Jazzman with the Clearfield trait are being tested this year after seed was brought back from the winter nursery in Puerto Rico.

“We’re pretty confident we’ll have a Clearfield Jazzman line in the near future,” Sha said.

He added that the first hybrid rice produced at the Rice Research Station, a medium grain, is being tested. It has good yield potential and good milling quality. A new Della aromatic rice line also has been developed, and it could be released as a variety in the near future.

LSU AgCenter rice specialist Johnny Saichuk told farmers that fields that were flooded early are showing the best growth.

Adult rice water weevil populations have been found in many fields, and thrips are causing problems in central Louisiana, Saichuk said. Blast was found in a Cameron Parish field, which is not unusual considering the dry weather this year.

Rice acreage is down in Arkansas, and that could have a positive effect on prices, Saichuk said.

Acreage is expected to decline by 17 percent nationwide, but the rice market has the largest ending stocks since 1986, said LSU AgCenter economist Mike Salassi. Prices have gradually increased since December, and that trend could continue.

LSU AgCenter pathologist Don Groth said he doesn’t expect cercospora to be a problem this year. And unlike last year, temperatures so far have been too cool for an outbreak of bacterial panicle blight.

A new Valent herbicide, League, has been approved, said LSU AgCenter weed scientist Eric Webster, but it has the same mode of action of several other compounds, including Londax, Newpath and Regiment.

LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Ron Levy said 80 to 90 percent of the state’s soybean crop has been planted, and the total should exceed 1 million acres. He said a drought is causing farmers problems, and salt is showing up in some irrigation water.

Bruce Schultz