Arkansas Rice Update 7-12-24

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - July 12, 2024

Arkansas Rice Update 2024-15

July 12, 2024

Jarrod Hardke, Nick Bateman, Ben Thrash, and Scott Stiles

“Gimme three steps, gimme three steps mister…”

Heading Out

Much of the state received a welcome rainfall this week.  Fortunately the event was short-lived and we quickly returned to sunny days and warm temperatures.  Far eastern and southeastern areas received little help in the way of rain, and some on the western edge and in the river valley received more than they bargained for with some busted levees.  All in all, a good event courtesy of Hurricane Beryl – let’s just hope it doesn’t have more friends show up come harvest time.

The move into more and more rice heading is happening now under near ideal conditions.  Continue to monitor for rice stink bug levels – which so far continue to be low to moderate.

The outlook for the upcoming week is hot and sunny – in a good way.  Toward the end of the week we’re currently forecast to see another cool front that will drop highs well into the 80s and possibly bring more rainfall.  Once again we hope that it’s a short-lived event and we quickly return to sunny days through grain fill.  I would prefer not to see disease fire up late – be mindful of this forecast when making decisions about whether to treat for sheath blight or blast.

There won’t be an update next week – but we’ll check back in the following week when it appears we could be starting to sneak up on some of the earliest rice getting dangerously close to harvest.  Will someone sneak in and grab some high moisture rice before July ends?  It could happen, but really the first week of August is when we should see the first of true harvest happen.

Let us know if we can help.

Fig. 1.  NOAA 7-day precipitation forecast.

Armyworms on the March in Rice

Nick Bateman and Ben Thrash

We have seen fall armyworms (FAW) in our plots around the state for the past month and a half.  Until this week the numbers have been low and you wouldn’t have known they were there if it weren’t for catching them in a sweep net.  Things have changed tremendously, particularly in the southeast part of the state.  Since this past weekend numerous phone calls and texts have been received with large amounts of FAW being found in rice (Fig. 2).

Rice can handle a fairly large amount of defoliation before yield loss occurs with later plantings being more sensitive (Table 1).  Our thresholds for defoliation are:  Armyworms should be treated when defoliation exceeds 20% at green ring through heading.  During heading, treat if head clipping is occurring and armyworms are present.  Armyworms have the potential to do large amounts of defoliation in a short amount of time.  Fields with armyworms in them should be monitored closely to ensure we do not exceed these defoliation thresholds.

So, what options do we have for control?  Frankly none of the labeled options are great.  Lambda used to be really good but since 2021 control has lessened and it is no longer reliable (Table 2).  Dimilin plus Lambda works well in both pastures and rice, however, it has an 80-day preharvest interval and is difficult to find in large quantities.

We have submitted for and received a Section 18 “crisis” exemption for Intrepid 2F this week (https://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/AR-Sec18-Crisis-Exemption-Intrepid-2F-Fall-Armyworms-Rice-Effective-7-11-2024-1.pdf).  As of July 11, we are legal to spray Intrepid 2F in rice for armyworms.  However, under this exemption we have a 14-day window to make applications.  With that being said a “specific” exemption is under review with EPA and if approved will allow for season-long use.  We have had good luck with both knockdown and residual control of armyworms with 4 oz of Intrepid.  Keep in mind the applicator has to have the label in hand at the time of application and must report the amount of acres treated to ADA.

Right now, it appears that the highest pressure is on the southeast section of the state, but reports of large amounts of armyworm on broadleaf signalgrass on turn rows and pastures statewide have been common this week.  Hopefully, this will only affect a minimal amount of acres in the state, but this is very similar to what was seen in 2021.  Everyone needs to be checking the edges of fields and grassy areas of fields, these tend to be where they start.  Call us if you need us.

Table 1. Yield and maturity delays caused by defoliation at green ring.

Table 2. Efficacy of multiple insecticides for control of fall armyworm in rice at two locations in Arkansas County, AR 4 days after treatment (2021)

Fig. 2.  A: Fall armyworms on turnrow near rice field; B: Fall armyworms in rice field.

Ricing Around

Jarrod Hardke

Automatic fungicide applications

• To spray or not to spray (automatically) is being asked a lot right now. The simple answer is we don’t recommend auto apps in general.  If we see a benefit, it’s because we controlled something (sheath blight, smuts, blast, Cercospora).  Even with reduced costs of generic fungicides these days we can still be looking at $20+ for a single application (fungicide + application).

• In Table 3 below, you can see that there were some benefits for CLXL745, which had more disease susceptibility particularly to sheath blight and the fungicide application appeared to pay off. For XP753, there was only a significant yield response at one site.  In Table 4, there was no increase in head rice yields, but there was a slight (less than half a point) increase in total rice.

Table 3. Influence of fungicide application and site year, averaged over N application timing, on grain yield of RiceTec CLXL745 and RiceTec XP753 hybrid rice during 2014-2016.

^aInteraction of fungicide application Χ site year was not significant for CLXL745 at the 0.05 probability level.  Only the main effect of fungicide application is shown.

^bRREC = Rice Research and Extension Center, Stuttgart, Ark.; and PTRS = Pine Tree Research Station, near Colt, Ark.

^cLSD = least significant difference.

Table 4.  Influence of fungicide application averaged over N application timing and cultivar on head rice and total rice milling yield during 2014-2016.

^aLSD = least significant difference.

Crop improvement products to improve yield and milling.

• Tables 5 and 6 show some limited trial work looking at an assortment of products that were applied during rice reproductive growth.  Note these products were commonly talked about at the time and that's why they were chosen.  Yield gains were only observed in one of the six site years.  Unfortunately, we only ended up with two site years on milling, but there were no increases there.  While we intend to revisit this topic as we strive to find ways to improve and stabilize our rice late season for any additional yield or milling gains, this data doesn’t support these product applications as a general recommendation.  Note that in Table 5 in 2016 there were single applications of products at different timings, but in Table 6 in 2017 products were sprayed twice at both PI and late boot.

Table 5. Influence of selected crop improvement product on rice grain yield at three locations during 2016.

^aRREC 1 = Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, Ark.; RREC 2 = Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, Ark.; PTRS = Pine Tree Research Station near Colt, Ark.

Table 6. Influence of selected crop improvement product on rice grain yield at three locations during 2017.

^aRREC 1 = Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, Ark.; RREC 2 = Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, Ark.; PTRS = Pine Tree Research Station near Colt, Ark.

Tip grains broken over and blanking

• Seeing some grains at the tip of the panicle broken over or blanked out white? Blame environmental conditions – because they’re to blame.  Ever notice how you occasionally see a “pinch” mark on the flag leaf?  This is from it getting pinched as it emerges through the collar of the prior leaf – weather events cause that collar to constrict.

• In much the same way, a big temperature swing can cause a pinching of the flag leaf collar. When this pinching or tightening of the flag leaf collar occurs around the time the panicle is attempting to exsert, the tip kernels can catch in the collar and the rachis (panicle branch) can break as the head is pushed out the side of the boot instead.

Fig. 3.  Blank tip grains in heading rice caused by the panicle catching at the flag leaf collar during exsertion.

Rice Market Update

Scott Stiles

Just some quick thoughts on today’s WASDE report.  While we have not done a deep dive analysis, there are some things that stick out to us so far.  Beginning with old crop long-grain, there were no month-to-month changes in 23/24 ending stocks.  Imports and exports were both increased 1 million cwt.

For the sixth consecutive month USDA has increased old crop exports.  This month by 1 million cwt. to 75 million.  That is up 24.8 million or 49% from the prior year.  Weekly Export Sales data implies further increases might be in order.  Old crop exports are running well ahead of 22/23, with significant year on year increases in sales to Mexico and Venezuela.  As we are now in the last month of the 23/24 marketing year, export sales are 82% ahead of the 22/23 marketing year with 92% of sales having been shipped as of July 4.

The offsetting adjustments in old crop imports and exports left ending stocks at 17 million cwt.  The average producer price forecast was reduced by 10 cents/cwt. to $16.00.

With expected 2024 harvested acres reduced by 22,000 in NASS’ June Acreage survey, new crop production was lowered by 1.3 million this month to 168 million cwt.  That was mostly offset by a 1 million cwt. increase in imports.  USDA commented that imports of Asian aromatic long-grain rice is forecast to continue, primarily from Thailand.

There were no adjustments this month to domestic & residual use.  However, exports were increased by 1 million cwt. to 76 million.  Ending stocks were adjusted lower by 1.3 million to 24 million cwt.  USDA’s new crop price outlook was unchanged at $14.50/cwt or $6.53/bu.

New crop basis has been steady this week with futures continuing to drift lower.  Fall delivery bids around eastern Arkansas on Thursday ranged from $6.21 to $6.28/bu. at local driers.  Fall delivery bids at mills around eastern Arkansas averaged $6.35/bu. 

As mentioned, September futures continues to languish this week.  Tenuous support has been on either side of $14.60 this week and the 78.6% retracement of the move from the February low to the June highs.  Trading is now below all the key moving averages and is in “oversold” territory.  The general weakness across the entire CBOT grain complex is not supportive either.

Fig. 4.  September 2024 Rough Rice Futures, Daily Chart.

DD50 Rice Management Program is Live

The DD50 Rice Management Program is live and ready for fields to be enrolled for the 2024 season.  All log-in and producer information has been retained from the 2023 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.