Rice Has Emerged on the Zaunbrecher Field

Rice plants emerged during the weekend at the Zaunbrecher field near Lake Arthur.
The farmer, Ronnie “Blue” Zaunbrecher of Lake Arthur, said the rice seedlings responded to the warmer weather.
Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, said the rice is at the 1-leaf stage and he estimated emergence occurred Saturday (March 29). Shown above is a view of the rice plants.

Weeds are dominating some areas of the 39-acre field.
Saichuk walked the field April 2 with Zaunbrecher and they identified several weeds that could cause problems. The worst Saichuk found was Juncus. In the picture below, Saichuk, on the right, and farmer Ronnie "Blue" Zaunbrecher walk through the field with the heaviest concentration of the waxy-leaf weed.

“We knew it was here and we knew we didn’t get it with the burndown,” Saichuk said.
He also found starworts, sedges, alligator weed and water primrose.
“We need to get the flood on the field before we have a red rice problem,” Saichuk said.
Zaunbrecher said the field has been used for crawfish, so the aquatic weed problem is to be expected. “Compared to what it used to be, this is clean.”
Saichuk prescribed an ounce of Permit per acre for the Juncus, and a half ounce of Londax for the other weeds, in addition to a gallon of zinc per acre and a 1 percent concentration of crop oil, 200 pounds of urea and 40 pounds of potash.
After all that material is applied by airplane, the field will be flooded.

Below is a picture of a King snake found during Saichuk's weekly walking inspection of the field.