(Where your crop comes first)

Owen Taylor, Editor (601-992-9488)

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Here this week's RiceFax for 2009.

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- Owen Taylor, Editor (888-327-6329) owen@agfax.com

OVERVIEW

More rain delays. Heavy amounts of rain crowded radar screens across our coverage area over the weekend, and a spot-check of our contacts confirmed that only a small amount of additional rice has been planted since last Friday. Some rice has gone to flood in Matagorda County, Texas, where rice planting typically starts in the state. Pinpoint floods also had been established on some rice in south Louisiana prior to the weekend rain.

CROP REPORTS

Nathan Buehring, Mississippi Extension Rice Specialist: "We received another inch-plus of rain over the weekend in areas from Cleveland north. South of there the totals were spotty to none, and some people in the southern half of the Delta were able to get in the field Monday. But those areas have been somewhat missing showers that the rest of our production area has received.

"Growers from Cleveland to Clarksdale were starting to ease into the field today (4/22) and start planting. Areas from Roundaway north, though, caught rain again Tuesday, and it could be this weekend or early next week before they can do anything. The forecast is at least warmer, with 80s over the next 10 days. With warmer weather and ample moisture, any rice planted today should come up with no problem. But rice planted earlier that got 2 inches of packing rain over the Easter holiday will need to be flushed.

"So, a large portion of our crop – whether it was planted 2 weeks ago or is being planted now – will all come up at about the same time. Depending on when we get the next rain, we could be finished planting over the next 2 weeks. That’s the hope, anyway. We have rice up in the south Delta that was planted March 23-24 that’s up to a good stand. So far, no replant issues to speak of."

Chuck Wilson, Arkansas Extension Rice Agronomist, Stuttgart, Ark.: "As of last weekend’s crop report, we were about 24% planted. But much of the state got a pretty good rain over the weekend, and that kept most people out of the field until today (4/22). A lot of rice will be planted over the next 4 days. We’re still a little behind normal. Maybe 30% has been planted, while it ought to be 35% to 40%. But we’re still quite a bit ahead of last year."

Garry N. McCauley, Extension Rice Production Specialist, Eagle Lake, Texas: "We’ve been pretty much at a dead stop since last week. A major rain fell over the weekend, from 2 to 5 inches, depending on where you were standing. Just above our rice belt – maybe 15 to 20 miles north – rainfall amounts were even heavier, with 15 inches in places. The Colorado River is bank-full and into some low-lying areas. Big Sandy Creek, Pin Oak Creek, Saint Bernard River and others are out of their banks. So, everybody is out of the field. We may be able to do some of our own replanting by Friday. Most of the rice that has been planted is up. Some was flushed earlier, and I understand that some rice at Bay City is flooded."

Johnny Saichuk, Louisiana Extension Rice Specialist, Crowley, La.: "We got 5 to 7 inches of rain over the weekend. It was a hard, packing rain, and at least 2 fields in our verification program will actually have to be flushed now to soften the surface so rice can come up. Overall, though, we really haven’t had a lot of problems. We’re just waiting to see how things will shape up. This definitely will be a late season, due both to planting delays and cool conditions that slowed plant development. In north Louisiana they’re really just getting started with planting.

"In our verification fields we’ve been able to pinpoint flood one field with no herbicides, but that field went under water over the weekend, so we’ll have to see what happens. Some other fields, though, will require a lot of herbicide expense. Overall, we’re at the same point we were a month earlier in 2008. We still had a stretched out season last year, but that was driven by high rice prices. People kept getting into rice and planting later than normal."

Amy Beth Dowdy, ABD Crop Consulting, Dexter, Mo.: "We’ve got a little over 2,000 acres planted. About 1,500 acres has been in the ground for 2 weeks in Pemiscot and Dunklin Counties. It has sprouted, but none is up. It’s just been too cold and wet to expect much growth yet. I’ve been checking those fields today (4/22), and the rice has a shoot on it and should break out in a couple of days. It’s still wet from the last rain. We should be able to scratch some fields tomorrow and maybe plant a little this afternoon on lighter dirt, but it probably will be 2 days before most people can get into the field again. There’s another 30% to 40% chance of rain on Saturday and then again on Monday. Hopefully, we’ll miss all or most of that and get 6 to 7 days of dry weather. It’s 67 today, and this is the first day we’ve been able to get some spraying done."

AT CLOSING

Arkansas Wheat Newsletter, 4-21. Disease advisory; regional rust update and threat of stem rust; glyph drift on wheat this week.

Louisiana Soybean and Feed Grain Review, April, Soybean seed germination; snails and slugs; soybean rust fungicides for 2009.

USA Rice Federation Daily, 4-22, USA Rice Pursuing Rice-Specific Crop Insurance Resources, Producer Member Testifies.

Louisiana: Soybean acres expected to increase 4-22

Louisiana Rough Rice

Louisiana Ports Daily Gulf Grain

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