Arkansas Rice Update 7-22-22

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - July 22, 2022

Arkansas Rice Update 2022-18

July 22, 2022

Jarrod Hardke and Scott Stiles

“I woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered.”

Heat with a Dash of Rain

Jarrod Hardke

Much needed rain for eastern Arkansas finally arrived this week (Fig. 1).  This event brought tremendous help to most of our rice areas.  Help it was; a solution it was not.  It didn’t catch us up, which was evident by some pumps still not being turned off and others only turned off 24-48 hrs before resuming irrigation.  However, most importantly it bought us time – time to get to the next rainfall event which will hopefully arrive in the next week.

Continued heat, both day and night, is expected to continue until this time next week.  At that time there are some rain chances and both daytime and nighttime temps are expected to drop some.

The highs aren’t quite as high this week as originally forecast, but overnight lows are remaining high so we’re not out of the woods yet.  Probably around 25% of rice is heading in the state at this point, but the rest is coming is coming on fast with the crop racing as we accumulate maximum heat units every day.  Keep the fingers and toes crossed that small break toward the end of next week brings the rice crop the relief it needs at just the right time.

Overall, the rice crop is really looking good at this stage.  Grassy, but good.  While there are exceptionally clean fields out there, they’re the exception.  I joked to some this week there are two types of rice fields out there – those that have grass blown through and those that will soon have grass blown through.  It’s not truly that bad, large tillered barnyardgrass always looks denser than it really is and much of what I’ve seen isn’t directly yield limiting but could still result in some rice lodging at harvest.

As mentioned last week, humidity and dew set have ticked up and so disease pressure seems on the rise a little more.  Calls about sheath blight and blast have increased (no dramatic crazy calls, just getting more of them).  Stink bugs have their hot spots, but most are still reporting numbers relatively low for this point in the season.

While we need to scout for disease and insects and respond accordingly, avoid unnecessary applications.  Just “throwing in” foliar products or fungicides because we’re making a trip across the field isn’t spending money wisely.  Fungicide applications alone do not improve milling unless they’re controlling something (i.e. smuts).  Foliar fertilizers may flash some green-up but do not contribute significant units of nutrients to appreciably change anything.  Also, if making a justifiable fungicide application prior to heading, don’t throw in an insecticide as this can lead to worse problems with stink bugs later.

There will be no Rice Update next week.

Let us know if we can help.

Fig. 1.  National Weather Service AHPS 7-day precipitation accumulation.

Fig. 2.  NOAA 7-day precipitation forecast.

Rice Leadership Development Program Now Accepting Applications

The Rice Leadership Development Program gives future leaders a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an emphasis on personal development and communication skills.  The program has been in existence for more than 30 years and most of the current leaders of the U.S. rice industry are alumni.

The deadline for application to the 2023-25 class is Sept. 9, 2022.

Class members attend four one-week sessions over a two-year period that encompass studies of all aspects of the rice industry through firsthand observation.  They also attend seminars and workshops designed to strengthen leadership skills.

Eligible applicants must be between the age of 25 and 45, and derive their primary livelihood as rice producers or from a rice industry-related profession or firm, including rice mills, rice product marketers, sales officials, suppliers, dryers, extension services, or research facilities.  Participants from the industry-related category must serve the rice industry in their primary job responsibility.

Go here to apply for the program.  For additional information, please contact Steve Linscombe, program director.

Rice Market Update

Scott Stiles

After a 6-week absence, we finally got to see September rice trade above $17 again.  The contract gained a combined 63 cents in Monday and Tuesday’s trading.  By Wednesday, news surfaced that Iraq had purchased 40,000 MT of U.S. long-grain milled rice.  This was welcome news as the last sale to Iraq occurred in November 2021.  Shipment of this sale is expected in October.

The figure below of World Rice Prices illustrates how difficult it has been for the U.S. to compete in large overseas tenders.  In the past month, U.S. quotes (red line) rose $10 to $705/ton, while trading at no less than $600/ton over the past year.  The competition for Iraq’s business has been stiff with Thai quotes (black line) at $428/ton due to large stocks and a weakening currency.

Fig. 3. World Rice Prices.

Rice harvest is underway in Louisiana and Texas.  No official word yet on yields.  The biggest market driver early in the week was the Iraq news.  Trading has turned quiet following the official announcement of the sale.  Other grains, particularly corn and wheat, have turned lower on the prospect of grain shipments from Ukraine resuming.

From a technical standpoint, the September contract needs to close above $17.30 ½ to continue higher.  Following Monday’s high, trading has devolved into a narrower range, lower volume downtrend.  This has a created a “pennant” chart formation.  Watch for a close above $17.30 ½ for hints of a possible return to the $17.80 area.  We’re also watching the red, 50-day moving average at $16.93 as near-term price support.

Fig. 4.  CME September 2022 Rough Rice Futures.

Fertilizer:

On Monday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to reject a recommendation by the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose duties on imports of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Russia and Trinidad and Tobago supply more than 80 percent of U.S. imports of UAN fertilizer.  The U.S. imported more than 1.8 million tons of UAN from the two countries last year.  The Biden administration has not sanctioned Russian agricultural commodities and fertilizers since the Ukraine invasion.  A 39,000-ton shipment of Russian UAN is expected to arrive in New Orleans Monday.  In recent weeks, Russian potash has been shipped to the U.S.

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 on the DD50 website.  

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.