Arkansas Rice Update 9-8-23

by Jarrod Hardke, Rice Extension Agronomist - September 8, 2023

Arkansas Rice Update 2023-25

September 8, 2023

Jarrod Hardke

“It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, mothering remains quite the same, with all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”

Sail on Sailor

Labor Day created more work for many.  “Scattered” storms pretty well scattered out enough to tag everybody at one point or another.  The majority of the delta saw varying degrees of rain (1-3 inches) and wind (some 50-60 mph) on Monday.  For whatever reason, Mississippi Co. took it the worst, but most felt the sting to some degree.

There is now a lot of rice out there with some amount of lodging at least getting started.  The initial impact appeared slight from the prairie up the Hwy. 49 corridor with the worst effects east of the ridge.  However, the past couple of days showed that we were working on a delayed fuse as more rice has caved in and leaned harder since the early part of the week.  Some amount of pancakes all around.

Yield reports continue to be positive, but certainly lodged rice can take the edge off of our efficiency.  And rice that goes down generally doesn’t hold onto all the rice it was carrying.  Given that we’re already on the poorer side of milling, rice kernels down in moist conditions of lodged rice aren’t going to help us out.

Good news?  Thinking… thinking…  Well, it does appear that the extended forecast is for cooler temps with minimal rainfall chances, so there’s that and maybe it will be true this time.  We’re also well ahead of harvest progress compared to any recent years.  Alright, alright, alright.

Let us know if we can help.

Fig. 1.  NOAA 7-day precipitation forecast.

Fig. 2.  Arkansas rice harvest progress, 2012-2023.

Fig. 3.  Aerial view of downed rice.

Fig. 4.  Ground level view of downed rice.

Preliminary 2023 Arkansas Rice Cultivar Testing

Table 1.  Preliminary DD50 Planting Date Studies, RREC, Stuttgart, AR.

¹ Grain Types:  L = long-grain, M = medium-grain, LA = long-grain aromatic.

² Milling yield:  HR = head rice, TR = total rice.

 Table 2.  Preliminary Arkansas Rice Performance Trials.

¹ Grain Types:  L = long-grain, M = medium-grain.

² Milling yield:  HR = head rice, TR = total rice.

ARK = Arkansas Co.; CLA = Clay Co.; DES = Desha Co.; LAW = Lawrence Co.

Rice Market and Harvest Progress

Fig. 5.  CME Rough Rice Futures, Nov. 2023, Four-month daily chart.

Harvest Progress:

Table 3.  Rice Harvested (%).

DD50 Rice Management Program is Live

The DD50 Rice Management Program is live and ready for fields to be enrolled for the 2023 season.  All log-in and producer information has been retained from the 2022 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.