“Soybeans range from just planted to R3, and we started applying fungicides this week. Insects have been very light in soybeans up until this week. We’re now finding loopers. They’re not bad but we’re seeing them on a widespread basis in all plant stages.
“Fungicide applications started on Monday (6/29). The crop looks good. Some of our dryland corn caught every rain that came through, and dryland corn looks excellent in places.”
Dustin Harrell, Louisiana Rice Extension Specialist, LSU Rice Research Station, Crowley
“This week, we’ll hold our first-ever virtual rice field day at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station. All the presentations and other material developed for the event also are online on a special website. So, people can view any of that video content when they want.
“The program includes our normal field day presentations, as well as guest speakers. We’ll also have a poster session, which will be in the form of a PowerPoint presentations.
“In our rice crop, disease hasn’t developed to any extent and we still have a good-looking crop. Harvest in some of our earliest fields might start this weekend.
“In our youngest rice in southwest Louisiana, people have asked about South American rice miners and leaf miners, which are causing damage in some of our younger rice.
“They tend to be cyclical, and it’s been a couple of years since they’ve been present. These miners will come into rice in heavy numbers, maybe for a couple of years, then go away for another few years before yo see them again. But if rice miners are the worst thing we’ll see this year, that’s okay.
“We really don’t have any management practices for these pests. They’re in the mid-tillering to latter-tillering rice now, and you almost have to let the rice outgrow them.
“Stink bugs are mostly quiet.”
Steve Schutz, Ind. Consultant, Coushatta, Louisiana
“I haven’t had any rice in several years but ended up with 80 acres for 2020. The farmer intended to plant corn but had to go with prevented planting because the weather kept delaying things.
“Considering how much better rice prices have been – compared to everything else – he decided to go with rice, even late like this.
“He planted it about three weeks ago. The rice is now at the five-leaf stage and looks good. We’re trying to work around this weather and apply herbicides and fertilizer so he can take it to flood.”
M.O. Way, Texas A&M Entomologist, Beaumont
“Some rice is turning down and will be harvested in 10 to 14 days (from 7/1). Some panicle blast has been observed west of Houston. A consultant reported a possible rice planthopper infestation, which I’ll be checking out.”
Jarrod T. Hardke, Arkansas Extension Rice Specialist
“Most everything is moving into the reproductive stages, and we’re encountering some of our usual midseason issues. Among other things, we received the first report of leaf blast. Typically, the first reports start in the second or third week of June, but this year it came in on the last day of June. That’s odd and somewhat indicates how late the crop is running. A few other people now say they’re seeing likely symptoms, too.
“More rain has fallen. Another big system moved across the state today (7/1) with scattered showers. In places, it dropped a free flood where farmers needed it. But for some folks who already were pumped up, it may have been a little much water.
“As long as it stays wet like this, the potential for disease will very much be with us.
“Calls are coming in about hydrogen sulfide toxicity (HST). A lot of that tends to be found just after midseason, which makes it hard to manage. When it develops, plants turn pale and are shorter, and you’ll find black roots. Mostly, people have been catching it early enough that it shouldn’t be a major issue. Nothing I’ve seen has persisted long enough to bring the kind of fungal infection in the crown that shuts down the plant altogether.
“The only measure that helps is to drop down the water to a muddy state. You’re reintroducing oxygen into that upper soil layer. You’re not completely re-oxygenating the soil. But you’re at least letting plants take a clean breath and throw off the toxic effect. It doesn’t take long to do that. The top paddies dry up first, then the paddies below that dry up in succession.
“Once plants have bounced back in the upper paddies, you can start chasing water down the field to those lower paddies once they’ve been muddy long enough.
“We need to be fairly cautious with rice as we move into midseason – and be careful how we spend money on it. Calls continue coming in about rice paling up. It always does that to some degree at this point in the season, but it’s not always due to nitrogen deficiency. One influence right now has been this cloudy and overcast weather. Even though people applied midseason nitrogen, they’re not seeing that dramatic move to a darker green color. To build that green color, you need photosynthesis, and that requires sunlight.
This weekly report is distributed during the cotton production season. It is available to United States residents engaged in cotton farming, field scouting and other qualifying ag professions. Mailing address: 142 Westlake Drive, Brandon, MS 39047. Office: 601-992-9488.
