Don Groth, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, tells farmers in Vermilion Parish about ways they can control diseases in rice this year. Heavy rainfall and cloudy weather have hampered this year’s crop and created an ideal climate for disease to flourish. Photo by Bruce Schultz

Steve Linscombe, far right, tells farmers in Jefferson Davis Parish about his work to develop a new variety of rice with the Provisia technology, a herbicide-resistant rice that will complement the Clearfield rice system. Photo by Bruce Schultz

News Release Distributed 05/29/15

CROWLEY, La. – Recent weather has not been ideal for growing rice because of frequent rainy and cloudy weather, LSU AgCenter experts told farmers at field days on May 28 in Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes.

Cloudy weather reduces sunlight needed for photosynthesis, said Steve Linscombe, LSU AgCenter rice breeder. But, he said, the rice crop looks better than he expected. The reduced sunshine while the rice is now in the vegetative stage is less harmful than when the plants move into the reproductive stage and start grain filling.

Dustin Harrell, AgCenter rice specialist, said the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station usually gets 26 inches of rain between March 1 and the end of July, but the total so far is 24 inches.

He said the station has had 43 days of measurable rainfall since March 1 and more cloudy days when it hasn’t rained.

“This is the first time in a long time that we have sunshine,” Harrell said at the Vermilion Parish event.

Harrell said midseason fertilizer applications have been complicated by the wet ground that prevents airplanes from using airstrips. Instead, pilots have been forced to use paved runways that are often distant from fields, resulting in higher costs for aerial applications.

He said waiting seven to 10 days for a midseason fertilizer application should not make a significant difference in a crop.

Don Groth, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, told farmers that they should be on the lookout for disease. “This is disease weather.”

He said leaf blast will be a problem for farmers if water accidentally drains from a field, but restoring a flood will likely reduce the disease severity.

Groth said fungicide-resistant sheath blight has spread this year, with some reported south of Lacassine and in east Evangeline Parish, increasing the likelihood that the fungicide Sercadis will be needed by more farmers.

The news was worse for soybeans.

Ron Levy, LSU AgCenter soybean specialist, said the wet weather has forced him to delay planting for many of his variety trials, and many farmers are close to deciding not to plant a soybean crop.

“It’s probably getting to a point where we won’t see many soybeans planted in south Louisiana,” Levy said.

Those farmers able to plant in March on raised beds on sugarcane ground, and in the eastern part of the state, have good crops, he said, but they are the exception.

Levy said some beans will survive flooding, but high water followed by hot sun will scald the young plants.

Louisiana soybeans have had record yields the past three years, and had the highest state yield in the US in 2014. “This year it appears we’re not in for a record-breaking year,” Levy said.

Linscombe told farmers he is working on developing varieties for use with the herbicide-resistant Provisia rice system, and 12 lines are being grown at the Jimmy Hoppe farm near Fenton, where the Jefferson Davis Parish field day was held. Provisia will be a good complement to Clearfield rice in controlling red rice with a different mode of action, he said.

He said the LSU AgCenter’s winter nursery in Puerto Rico allowed the breeding process to be accelerated, and it’s possible that a limited commercial release of Provisia would be available in 2017. “I want to stress that’s a best case scenario,” he told farmers at the Vermilion Parish event.

Harrell said a second-crop rice yield can be increased by mowing or rolling the stubble after the first crop harvest. Either option will delay maturity by about two weeks, he said, so it’s not a recommended practice if the first crop is harvested after Aug. 15.

Excess fertilizer also will delay maturity, he said.

Andrew Granger, LSU AgCenter county agent in Vermilion Parish, said the price outlook for rice is not good. An abundant carryover from last year’s good harvest has depressed prices, he said.

Mike Stout, LSU AgCenter entomologist, said he has a test at the Lounsberry farm where the field day was held for Vermilion Parish, to determine which of nine varieties have resistance to rice water weevils. So far, he said, Jupiter has the most susceptibility and Jefferson has shown resistance.

Bruce Schultz