Arkansas Rice Update 8-20-21

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - August 20, 2021

Arkansas Rice Update 2021-22

August 20, 2021

Jarrod Hardke, Nick Bateman, and Scott Stiles

“I feel the need.  The need for speed.”

Harvest Time

Jarrod Hardke

Most of the Delta received rain this week whether it needed it or not.  Many were likely happy to get a decent rain for the first time in a while, but it caught some with rice draining and a lot of bean water going so things backed up a bit in places.  Next week looks pretty warm with no real rain chances after Saturday.  The warm and sunny weather will hopefully finish a lot of rice up quickly so we can get more into harvest on this side of September.

Harvest reports are still very limited, but the few reports so far have been very solid.  Certainly not enough to paint any kind of picture on expectation for the year, but the overall crop does look solid, so expectations are for a successful harvest.  Let’s keep those tropical systems spinning away from the Mid-South this year, shall we?

Fig. 1.  NOAA 7-day Precipitation Forecast.

2021 Rice Field Day Online

Today, Aug. 20, Rice Field Day videos are available online at:  https://aaes.uada.edu/events/2021-field-days/rice/.  These are “view on your own” videos covering weed science, entomology, pathology, breeding, irrigation, and fertility.  Note there is a separate link on the page to view videos for CEU credit (https://courses.uada.edu/login/index.php).  These videos will be up for a while so they don’t have to be viewed immediately.

Endigo ZC Exemption for Rice Stink Bug

Nick Bateman

Arkansas received approval for the use of Endigo ZC for rice stink bug control as mentioned in last week’s update.  This use exemption expires on Aug. 27.  The label and required form detailing applications, which must be submitted to AR Dept. of Agriculture, can be found here:  AR-Crisis-Exemption-for-Endigo-ZC-Rice-Stink-Bug-in-Rice.pdf (arkansas.gov).

Harvest Aids

Jarrod Hardke

Use of sodium chlorate in rice continues to be a valuable tool for as a harvest aid.  The key here is that it’s a tool and not necessarily a fit for all acres and situations.  Some of our research in recent years has improved our knowledge our knowledge on how best to use this tool to maximize its benefit for rice harvest.

• Complete rice harvest in 5 days or less after application of sodium chlorate. Any longer and heavy dew and/or rain can reduce milling yield.  Excessive drying of panicle branches can increase shattering potential and excessive plant desiccation can increase lodging.  The greatest losses in small-plot research trials have been observed from waiting over 5 days to harvest.  You can get lucky if conditions happen to be favorable, but the losses can be substantial if conditions are poor.
• Do not salt varieties until grain moisture is below 25% (e.g. Diamond, CLL16, etc.)
• Do not salt hybrids until grain moisture is below 23% (e.g. XP753, RT7521FP, etc.)
• Once grain moisture falls below 18%, do not salt the rice. This is an absolute cut-off for medium-grains, especially Titan.  Long grains may be able to cheat below 18% but harvest needs to start immediately.  In research and some field observations, applications below 18% have been accomplished with little negative impact, but conditions were favorable and harvest occurred immediately in those instances.
• The lower the grain moisture at time of application, the more you should consider using a lower rate of sodium chlorate. A 1-gallon rate of 5 lb material is an effective rate especially at higher moisture rice, but as rice approaches lower ranges, a 0.5 gallon rate may be justified to decrease the risk of over-drying the rice.

 Fig. 2.  Research plots receiving sodium chlorate (right) versus untreated check.

Rice Market Update

Scott Stiles

Sharply lower trade this week in rice futures and other CBOT grains.  Specific to the rice market, the U.S. harvest overall is in step with the five-year average and luckily avoided what’s now Hurricane Grace.  Given the fact there was a broad-based selloff in commodities this week, the most likely source of pressure came from the Dollar index.  The Dollar has been trending higher since early June.  However, on Thursday the index moved past some key chart resistance and rallied to a 9-1/2 month high.

The chart immediately below is a 4-month daily chart of November ’21 rice futures.  This week’s trading moved below key trendline support at $13.50.  If the November contract continues lower, it may find chart support at $13.00.  Arguably rice is still very much in a “weather market” and can quickly turn higher on threatening tropical activity.  Without such threats, continued Dollar strength will create a headwind for rice and other commodities.

Rough Rice Nov. ’21 Futures

The graph below provides a look at new crop rice bids this month for delivery to mill points in Arkansas.  As of Friday morning, bids have slipped 18 cents this week to $5.83 per bushel.

New Crop Rice Bids for August 2021, Arkansas Mill Delivery ($/bu.)

Fuel Market:

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”.  The energy markets have not been spared from the commodities selloff.  Diesel futures have been in freefall since August 1, slipping from $2.20 to $1.93 as of this writing.  WTI crude oil has dropped about $11 since August 1 to $63/bbl.  Thus, an opportunity has presented itself to cover diesel needs for the remainder of the year.  A return to $1.75 may be an opportunity to lock in fuel for 2022.  Watch closely.

NYMEX Diesel Futures, daily nearby contract.

Crop Progress:

In Monday’s Crop Progress, NASS reported the U.S. rice harvest at 12% complete as of August 15^th.  That is up from 7% the prior week and in step with the five-year average.  Arkansas and Mississippi were both at 1% harvested.  Noticeable progress was seen in Louisiana, with harvest advancing to 55% compared to the five-year average of 57%.  The Texas harvest was estimated at 38% done, versus the five-year average of 51%.

DD50 Rice Management Program is Live

The DD50 Rice Management Program is live and ready for fields to be enrolled for the 2021 season.  All log-in and producer information has been retained from the 2020 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.