Herbicides working on Zaunbrecher field

Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, stopped by the Zaunbrecher field this morning and he liked what he saw.

"The herbicides appear to be working on the Juncus," he reported.

He had been uncertain whether applying an ounce of Permit per acre would work but he said it appears that the weed has been knocked down by the compound. The mixture included a half ounce of Londax and a gallon of zinc per acre, with crop oil added at the rate of 1 gallon per 100 gallons of liquid.

A permanent flood of 3-4 inches has been pumped onto the field. "We have no intention of letting the water out until just before harvest."

Saichuk said he has recommended application of an insecticide, such as Mustang Max or Karate, to address rice water weevils before the pests get out of hand. He said scarring was found on the 2-leaf rice and some pairs of the insects were found.

Saichuk said he is somewhat concerned that the cool weather expected this weekend could retard growth of the young crop.

Flushing the Station Field/Guests Take a Look

Larry White, manager of the Foundation Seed Program at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station, has turned the water on the station field for a flushing of water intended to soak the soil to provide moisture to seedlings and encourage germination of seed yet to sprout.
White said Thursday when the flush is complete, he will allow the seedlings to grow approximately a week before applying fertilizer. At the top of the picture above, water flows out of a riser, then flows out of the field through a plastic curtain designed to prevent the water movement from eroding a levee.

Thursday morning, visitors stopped by the station blog field. Members of the 2008 USA Rice Leadership Class visited the station and Dr. Steven Linscombe, station director, gave them an overview of the station and he provided a tour of the facilities. They heard Drs. Herry Utomo and Ida Wenefrida discuss the role of genetic markers in the breeding program, then stopped at several fields on the station to see work in progress, including the blog field. Dr. Carrie Castille, a Leadership class member and director of the LSU AgCenter Master Farmer program, explained how runoff water from selected fields is being studied to help producers adopt best management practices.

The class making the stop at the station blog field is shown in the picture above. From left to right are Michael Fruge of Pearland, Texas; Kirk Meins of Stuttgart, Ark.; Castille; Blake Gerard of Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Sean Doherty of College City, Calif.; Dan Hosman of Jonesboro, Ark.; Chuck Wilson, director of the Rice Foundation who oversees the leadership classes; Linscombe; and Buddy Allen of Tunica, Miss.

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.

Spraying for Weeds

Now that the Rice Research Station field has been planted, Larry White took the initiative against weed pressure Wednesday morning with a ground rig. He sprayed a tank-mixed combination that included Honcho Plus for grasses, Permit for sedges and Command to attack weeds before they emerge from the ground. Uncontrolled weeds can detract from a crop’s yield by as much as 70 percent, by robbing plants of valuable nutrients and sunlight.

Rice Research Station Field Planted

The blog field at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station was planted Tuesday morning. Larry White, manager of the Rice Station foundation seed program, said the new Catahoula variety was drill seeded at the rate of 42 pounds an acre at a depth of approximately three quarters of an inch.
“There was a little frost in the low spots this morning,” according to White.
But by this weekend, temperatures are supposed to be in the 60s at night and the mid-80s, ideal conditions for rice to germinate.
White said he’ll flush the field next week.

In the photo, the rows can be seen to the right of the tractor where the seed was planted. In the background on the left is a small planter used for research plots.

Zaunbrecher Field is Planted

With good, warm weather, rice farmers are jumping at the chance to start planting.
On Wednesday, Lake Arthur farmer Ronnie “Blue” Zaunbrecher had seed flown onto the flooded 39-acre field featured in the blog. The field is in this year’s LSU AgCenter Verification Program.
The seeding rate was 120 pounds per acre of the Cheniere variety.

The above photo shows seed falling from the airplane.

Below is a shot of the seed as it hits the water.

Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist in charge of the verification program, recommended that Zaunbrecher not drain the field until Friday. The seed had been soaked to hasten germination, but Saichuk said the seed did not appear to be adequately pipped, or sprouting enough to allow immediate draining after planting. “I think it needs to sit there for 24 hours, then turn the water loose.”
He said the flood will protect the seed from tonight’s cold temperatures in the 40s.
By draining the field, the seed will sprout into the mud and make it less likely to be moved later when the field is reflooded.
Saichuk said reflooding can be done in 4-5 days, and herbicides and fertilizer applied in the next 10 days.
Meanwhile back at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station, the 21.25-acre field may be planted within the week if the soil gets dry. Larry White, manager of the Rice Research Station’s foundation seed program, said the field is too wet for drill seeding.

Getting Ready to Plant the 2008 Rice Crop

As the days get warmer, rice farmers are eager to start planting.
Ronnie “Blue” Zaunbrecher of Lake Arthur , pictured above, expects to start in the next few days. One of the fields he will plant will be one of 2 featured in this year’s rice farming blog. The other field is located at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station.
The blog will follow Zaunbrecher’s 39-acre field that is in this year’s LSU AgCenter verification program under the supervision of Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist.
Zaunbrecher is a fifth generation farmer. His forefathers started in the Mowata area, then some of the family settled in Gueydan and later Lake Arthur.
Zaunbrecher, 38, has been farming since 1996. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from McNeese and a master’s degree in agriculture at LSU where he studied sugarcane breeding. He was attending Texas A&M to get a doctorate degree in cotton breeding when he decided to return to Louisiana and start farming.
“This will be crop No. 13,” Zaunbrecher said.
He’s never seen rice prices this high, topping $30 a barrel on the futures market, but he knows firsthand that expenses are higher than ever for fuel, fertilizer and chemicals such as glyphosate.
Zaunbrecher will water seed the verification field with Cheniere at the rate of 120 pounds per acre. He said he favors Cheniere because of its high-yielding advantage, possibly 4 to 5 bushels more per acre.
He currently has a 6-inch flood on the field, made up of three cuts. It was fallow last year, and he applied glyphosate last month to burn off vegetation. Zaunbrecher said the best the field has yielded was 48 barrels when it was planted in Wells a few years ago.
“That was a year it just grew and grew, and never stopped.”
Between him and his two brothers, Randall and Russell Zaunbrecher, they will plant roughly 2,200 acres of rice. They also hope to plant soybeans, with the acreage depending on seed availability.


In addition to Zaunbrecher’s field, a 21.25-acre field at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station will be followed this year, and the webcam will be focused on it so you can check on the crop’s progress.
Larry White, manager of the Rice Research Station’s seed program, said the field will be drill-seeded with Catahoula, a long-grain variety released by the LSU AgCenter last year.
White said the field will be planted “as soon as it dries up,” which could be in a week.
You can see the field now at http://www.lsuagcenter.com/ricecam/.