Arkansas Rice Update 5-13-22

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - May 13, 2022

Arkansas Rice Update 2022-08

May 13, 2022

Jarrod Hardke, Scott Stiles, and Tommy Butts

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”

Rapid Changes

Jarrod Hardke

Boy, that escalated quickly.  I mean that really got out of hand fast.

That could refer to the drying conditions or the planting progress.  Last week’s big jump in planting progress (to 57% as of 5/9) has been followed by another large jump this week.  Depending on just how the weather plays out of the weekend we should be greater than 80% planted, possibly even 90%, by the time the next report comes out on Monday.

Those nearest to the Mississippi River were probably a little surprised to catch a rainfall this afternoon, some reporting an inch of rain.  So certainly there will be a slowdown in those areas, but much of the rest of the rice growing area will keep rolling unless one of this weekend’s small rain chances catch them.

The other thing that has gotten out of hand to help drive planting progress is the heat and the wind.  The dreaded flush has been tossed around this week as some fields struggle to emerge through crusting soils and other emerged fields begin to show the effects of the heat, high wind, and sometimes salt injury leading to some desiccation.  Nobody likes to flush but sometimes it’s necessary and a number were flushing today.

As I’ve been told in the past about farming and the weather:  “It’s a good thing we can’t control the weather, because we wouldn’t all agree on it anyway.”  That’s true today as well, since some need rain, so they don’t have to flush, and others are finally drying enough to get into some fields that have remained wet.  May everyone get just what you need this week.

Fig. 1.  NOAA 7-day precipitation forecast.

Fig. 2.  Arkansas Rice Planting Progress, 2010-2022.

Table 1.  U.S. Rice Planting Progress, 2022.

Source:  USDA-NASS.

Battling Sedges

Tommy Butts

Sedges are the #2 and #3 most problematic weed in flooded and furrow-irrigated rice production, respectively, in Arkansas based on 2020 survey data.  Sedges are increasingly difficult to manage because when it comes to controlling them, not all sedges are created equal.  Correct identification is crucial to appropriately select herbicides and maximize our control efforts while minimizing our costs.

To help identify your specific sedge species, check out Table 2 as a quick guide for some key identification characteristics for some of our most prevalent sedge species in rice.  Also, check out the UADA fact sheet “Identification and Control of Problematic Sedges in Arkansas Rice” (FSA 2173) available at: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-2173.pdf.  This publication helps identify differences between yellow nutsedge, rice flatsedge, small-flower umbrella sedge, and swamp sedge.

Table 2 also highlights our most effective control options for each problematic sedge species.  Control of yellow nutsedge is very reliant on ALS-inhibiting chemistries.  League applied PRE is a great residual option, while Permit, Permit Plus, or Gambit provides effective control of yellow nutsedge POST.  For controlling the annual flatsedges (rice flatsedge, small-flower umbrella sedge, and white-margined flatsedge), Bolero or Sharpen are best options PRE.  Generally, due to widespread ALS-inhibitor resistance and some natural ALS-inhibitor tolerance in our annual flatsedges, Basagran + propanil is a top option for these 3 sedge species POST.  Loyant is also a very effective POST option for the annual flatsedges (both when sprayed and when coated on fertilizer and applied into the flood).  The newly-labeled herbicide Rogue is an excellent option to control rice flatsedge and small-flower umbrella sedge postflood; however, it should only be utilized on zero-grade or straight levee fields, and also requires some other specific management tactics to maximize its control.  Additionally, there have been some reports that Rogue is effective at controlling white-margined flatsedge; however, more research is needed to fully support this.  Make sure to check out our MP44 Recommended Chemicals for Weed and Brush Control for recommended timings, rates, adjuvants, and application procedures for each of these herbicide recommendations.

There are also many other unique sedge species that may pop up here or there.  Often, there is limited data, if any, on what are the most effective control strategies for these species.  Generally, our best recommendation is to use a broad-spectrum sedge control program tank-mixing multiple herbicides such as Loyant plus Permit/Gambit or Basagran plus Propanil plus Permit/Gambit to cover all of our bases.

For more information regarding sedge control, check out this week’s Weeds AR Wild podcast episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724616/10599892. Dr. Jason Bond, Extension Weed Scientist with Mississippi State University, joined the podcast and we discussed the prevalence of sedge species this year as well as control options across cropping systems for both Arkansas and Mississippi.

As always, if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to get ahold of us, and good luck out there!

Table 2.  Quick guide to problematic sedge spp. identification.  “ALS-inhibitors” is italicized and in red for rice flatsedge as most populations in the state are now ALS-inhibitor-resistant; as a result, herbicides such as Permit, Gambit, Grasp, etc. are not as effective as they once were.  “Rogue” is italicized and in red under white-margined flatsedge as there have been reports that Rogue is effective at controlling it; however, more research is needed.

Rice Market Update

Scott Stiles

Trading this week was focused on Thursday’s supply/demand report from USDA.  The rice market’s reaction to the May WASDE was favorable as new crop futures closed 10 ½ cents higher Thursday.  As anticipated, long-grain ending stocks are projected to tighten in the 2022 marketing year.

The May WASDE includes the first official new crop supply/demand projections.  As a starting point, these generally include the planting intentions from the NASS March Prospective Plantings.  In the May 22/23 balance sheet, USDA did not include planted and harvested acres in its’ initial long-grain projections.  However, they did footnote in their “All Rice” balance sheet “planted acres reported in March 31, 2022, Prospective Plantings”.  Given that, we can assume long-grain planted acreage is 1.943 million.  Using the projected percent harvested from USDA’s February Ag Outlook, estimated harvested acres could be 1.904 million.  To arrive at 22/23 Production of 140.9 million cwt. (Table 3), the average yield would be roughly 7400 pounds per acre, which is right in line with the 5-year Olympic average of 7402 pounds.

Table 3.  U.S. Long-Grain Supply Demand.

Source:  USDA affiliated agencies, May 2022.

The old crop (21/22) ending stocks were increased by 2 million this month, making the 22/23 beginning stocks 21.4 million.  Also, new crop imports are projected to be record large at 30 million cwt.  The net result is total supplies of 192.3 million, down 10 million from 21/22.

Given lower production, tighter supplies and a higher price outlook, USDA projects a 7 million cwt. reduction in usage in 22/23 to 174 million cwt.  Domestic use is expected to drop 4 million from last year, while exports could be down 3 million cwt.  Exports of 61 million would be the lowest since 1996/97.

This leaves the new crop long-grain balance sheet with ending stocks of 18.3 million and a stocks-to-use of 10.5 percent (Fig. 3).  The projected stocks-to-use for 22/23 would be the lowest since the 9.9 percent seen in 2019/20.  USDA projects the average long-grain farm price for the 22/23 crop to be $15.50/cwt or $6.98 per bushel.  That would be the highest average farm price on record back to 1982/83.

Fig. 3.  U.S. Long-Grain Ending Stocks and Stocks-to-Use Ratios.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, 2022.

After wide-ranging trade on Tuesday that dipped below $16.80, the September futures chart looks more constructive as we close out the week.  This week has provided the weather the Midsouth has been waiting for.  Monday’s Crop Progress will reveal a massive leap forward in planted acres.  However, the May WASDE provided long-term support for the rice market with tight stocks and record prices in the outlook.

Fig. 4.  CME Rough Rice Futures, September 2022 daily chart.

DD50 Rice Management Program is Live

The DD50 Rice Management Program is live and ready for fields to be enrolled for the 2022 season.  All log-in and producer information has been retained from the 2021 season, so if you used the program last year you can log in just as you did last year.  Log in and enroll fields here:  https://dd50.uada.edu.

Use the Arkansas Rice Advisor Internet App!

The Arkansas Rice Advisor site https://riceadvisor.uada.edu functions like an app on your mobile device.  There you can readily access the DD50 program, rice seeding rate calculator, drill calibration, fertilizer and N rate calculators, publications, and more.

Additional Information

Arkansas Rice Updates are published periodically to provide timely information and recommendations for rice production in Arkansas.  If you would like to be added to this email list, please send your request to rice@uada.edu.

This information will also be posted to the Arkansas Row Crops blog (http://www.arkansas-crops.com/) where additional information from Extension specialists can be found.

More information on rice production, including access to all publications and reports, can be found at http://www.uaex.uada.edu/rice.

Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the support for this publication provided by the rice farmers of Arkansas and administered by the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board.

The authors greatly appreciate the feedback and contributions of all growers, county agents, consultants, and rice industry stakeholders.