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Rice In 2014
SAM ATWELL
NEW MADRID, MO.
The 2014 Missouri rice crop is 95 percent harvested with average or above yield. Although we don't have the final yield data I can say we have been blessed with another good crop.
It was a “normal year” of ups and downs with no big hiccups out of the ordinary. The extended cool spring and a cool snap in late summer caused a delay in maturity, although 2014 was a bit earlier than 2013. There seemed to be more cold water spots this year, but they were tiny. We had the usual herbicide drift problems however, wind speeds were less than the past two years. Insects were low to normal with stink bugs mounting late. Diseases were low except for sheath blight on some varieties along the southeast side of the Bootheel and blast, primarily CL 151, on the southwest side. Blast was more prevalent in a couple bedded row rice fields due to lack of water. Fertility issues and lodging seemed to be less than past years. I contributed this to our growers paying closer attention to their nitrogen program with many of them following a specific plan such as the UAR N-Star program and others.
Missouri farmers planted 216,000 acres of rice in 2014 with 210,000 acres of long grain and 6,000 acres of medium grain. Diverse varieties are used that fit specific conditions and situations in ten Missouri counties. Some growers want short, some tall, some early, some later. Some want disease resistance and some want the Clearfield weed trait, while some want less expensive seed so they can plant thicker. Variety selections were divided between ten varieties. About 50 percent of Missouri farmers choose hybrid rice for silt soils where they often see a yield increase over conventional varieties and they like the disease package. Others prefer varieties that tend to stand and grade better which gives them a premium price.
Since Southeast Missouri is the beginning of the Mississippi Delta, our soils vary like those below us from coarse sand to sharkey clay. About 70 percent of our soils are silt with a clay base and about 25 percent heavy clay with only 5 percent sandy. Over 90 percent of our rice is in a conventional flood system but with these soil differences we have some successful bedded row rice and less than 1 percent in pivot irrigated rice.
Rice farmers in Missouri have increased their interest in growing rice on beds, a system referred to as “Bedded-Row Rice”. University of Missouri has been researching bedded-row rice project since the early 1980s. With the introduction of new technology, new varieties and herbicides for weed control, farmers are now seeking benefits from the rotational option provided by bedded-row rice. Compared to conventional flooding rice production systems, bedded-row rice is a natural fit for rotation and cover crops. The ease in rotating to other bedded crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton provides a significant economic advantage to the producers. The challenges lamented by producers are the difficulty in weed control, irrigation management and the lack of information on the system. ∆
SAM ATWELL: Agronomy Specialist, University of Missouri
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