Arkansas Rice Update 8-27-21

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - August 27, 2021

Arkansas Rice Update 2021-23

August 27, 2021

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

“Squalls out on the gulf stream, big storm coming soon…”

Hurricane for Harvest

Jarrod Hardke

With Hurricane Ida looming, all eyes are on the path it will take.  Current expectations are for an eastward shift that will catch the southeast and eastern portions of the state.  We certainly hope it continues to move ever eastward and spares the southeast yet another major flooding event for the year – they’ve had their fill already.

Early harvest reports continue to sound very good.  Milling yields have been a mixed bag however.  Conditions during grain fill combined with rice stink bug pressure may explain the variability and some reports of increased peck damage on rice.  Amount of peck is within the range of expectation but certainly higher than last year.  As stink bug pressure continues on later rice, it will be important to stay after them to keep peck levels down.

Rice maturity is currently tracking about 5-7 days behind DD50 Rice Management Program predictions for reaching 20% grain moisture.  This delay has been fairly consistent since early season weather set us back.  If you add 5-7 days to the 20% grain moisture prediction on your report, it should be very close.

Fig. 1.  NOAA 7-day Precipitation Forecast.

Preliminary Planting Date Yield Data

Jarrod Hardke

Table 1 contains preliminary yield data from the March 22, 2021 planting date the RREC at Stuttgart versus the March 27, 2020 planting date.  The 2021 data is preliminary because we haven’t fully analyzed it yet – so it may look different in its final form presented later this year.  Since we start getting questions about performance data already, we’re showing this now for an ‘early look’.

Table 1.  Preliminary data for March 22, 2021 planting date study at RREC, Stuttgart, versus March 27, 2020 planting date study.

Grain Type: L = long-grain; M = medium-grain; CL = Clearfield long-grain; CM = Clearfield medium-grain; FL = FullPage long-grain; ML = MaxAce long-grain; PL = Provisia long-grain; LA = long-grain aromatic.

Endigo ZC Update

Nick Bateman, Gus Lorenz, and Ben Thrash

The deadline for the crisis exemption to expire for Endigo ZC in rice was scheduled for Friday 8/27.  EPA is currently reviewing the specific exemption, and while that process is ongoing we are legal to keep using Endigo ZC for rice stink bug until EPA makes a ruling.  This is good news for our growers, as rice stink bug numbers have made a large jump this week.  This is mainly adult stink bugs and not immatures.  With the variable control observed with lambda this year across the state, many growers switched to Endigo ZC after the crisis exemption was approved.  We are hearing mixed results.  A majority of the calls we are getting a very positive, however in some cases folks are finding threshold level adults a week after application.  We have observed that as well in one of our studies near Stuttgart.  This is not common to see, but in all cases of these reports, these fields were the only green rice left around and has caused a sink for rice stink bug.  Our recommendation right now is to ride populations that are right at or maybe slightly over threshold for about a week before spraying.  With the adult migration we are currently seeing, we would need to spray every three days to keep them under control.  Endigo is the only option left for most of these fields.  We have a hard time recommending lambda at this point with the lack of control we have observed this year.  Hopefully we will be done with rice stink bugs on a majority of the rice in the state over the next 10-14 days however we know of some fields that haven’t headed yet.  Good luck, and we will keep everyone posted on the section 18 as we get updates.

Rice Market Update

Scott Stiles

After a gain of 12 cents in Monday’s trading, CBOT rice futures seemed unconcerned about the weather over the next three sessions.  However, trading has turned 3 to 5 cents higher Friday morning with November futures trading near $13.60.  Weather will certainly be a key influence on the rice market next week.

Rough Rice Nov '21 (ZRX21), Daily Futures.

While in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, Ida is expected to strengthen rapidly.  The potential is high for the system to become not only a hurricane but a major hurricane, which is Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.  A major hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.

Ida Projected Rainfall, August 27 – September 1.

Crop Progress:

In Monday’s Crop Progress, NASS estimated that Louisiana’s rice harvest was 62% complete as of August 22^nd.  Arkansas and Mississippi’s harvest is gaining momentum on the hot/dry conditions this week.  Looking forward, the big incalculable is the wind and flooding impact from Ida.  Harvest for the Midsouth / Mississippi delta will come to a stop next week.

Export Sales:

Weekly export sales for long-grain rough rice came in at 38,519 MT with Mexico and Guatemala the top buyers. Main destinations were Mexico (29,691) and Nicaragua (10,775).  Marketing year to date, sales performance is off to a good start as accumulated export sales of rough rice are 40% ahead of last year and 171% ahead of last year for milled rice.  Sales of rough, milled and brown combined are currently 74% ahead of the same week a year ago.

U.S. Long-Grain Export Sales, week ending August 19, 2021.

Fuel Market:

In last week’s Rice Update we commented on the decline in diesel prices seen this month.  NYMEX Diesel futures were trading near 3 ½ month lows ($1.90/gallon) a week ago (August 20).  Weather developments in the Gulf of Mexico turned the energy markets sharply higher this week.  Diesel futures are trading near $2.10/gallon as of this writing Friday morning.  The offshore region of the Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 17 percent of US crude output.  Slightly more than 45 percent of US refining capacity is located along the Gulf coast.  Following Ida’s exit, energy markets could turn lower next week.  Much will depend on the degree of damage to Gulf coast refineries and how soon operations can get back to normal.

 NYMEX Diesel Futures, Daily Nearby.

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.