More rain, good and not so good

Weather seldom pleases everyone, and that was true Thursday.
Larry White, director of the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station foundation seed program, wanted rain Thursday for the blog field and he got it. A line of thunderstorms blew through the area around noon, dumping .6 of an inch (1.5 centimeters) of rain in just a few minutes.
“Now we just need it to warm up,” White said.
Sunday will be warm, but after then, low temperatures are expected to be in the 40s until rain returns Thursday.
In the meantime, in Vermilion Parish, farmer Durel Romaine of Kaplan was hoping not to get any rain so he could plant a 40-acre field that will be featured in the blog. The field is in the LSU AgCenter rice verification program, directed by Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist.
Romaine, shown here in the field, had planned on drill-seeding the field Monday but now the field is too wet and he expects it will be the end of next week before he can get into the field.
He doesn’t want to change plans and water seed because he is concerned that the thick layer of vegetation will prevent the seed from anchoring roots into the soil.
The clouds that brought Thursday’s rain had a silver lining for Romaine, however. The additional moisture will mean even more freshwater in the canals that he uses for irrigation. The salt level in the canals had become excessive to be used for rice, but the recent rainfall has lowered the concentration of salt.
He took samples of water Wednesday in a canal that showed acceptable levels of salt for rice, but he said a neighbor took samples Thursday that showed a higher level.

Rainfall at the Station

Storms blasted through Louisiana Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. A total of 1.77 inches (4.5 centimeters) was recorded Thursday morning for the previous 24 hours at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station, according to station director Dr. Steve Linscombe.
He said rain will help germination of the drill-seeded rice in the blog field. The soil already held sufficient moisture for the seed to begin germination, but he said the rain will mean the field will not have to be flushed with a flood.
The rains will help farmers who have already drill-seeded their fields, but those hoping to plant this week will have to wait a few days for fields to dry. Of course, the weather won’t interfere with water-seeding by airplane, and the rains could help reduce pumping costs.

Planting underway for 2009

This is the year’s first installment of the LSU AgCenter rice web log that will follow the growing season from planting to harvest.
In the above photo, Larry White uses a drill seed to plant a 6-acre field at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station on Monday, March 23. He used the new variety, Jazzman, at the rate of 37 pounds per acre. The seed was treated with Dermacor, for protection against rice water weevils; gibberillic acid, to promote growth; and Dithane, a fungicide for seedlings.
Jazzman is an aromatic variety released by the LSU AgCenter late last year after its development by Dr. Xueyan Sha, LSU AgCenter rice breeder. More than a decade of work went into the variety, aimed at competing with Jasmine rice imported into the U.S. from Thailand.
Visible in the background is traffic on Interstate 10.

Station Blog Field Harvested

The field of Catahoula rice was harvested Thursday (Aug. 7), and the yield was 43.9 barrels (or 71.1 hundredweight) per acre, according to Larry White, director of the Rice Research Station Foundation Seed Program. The rice was cut at 18.8 percent moisture, and it will take about a week to dry the crop down to 12 percent. Next step is to clean the crop at the Rice Research Station facility to be sold as foundation seed.

Zaunbrecher Field Harvested

The final figures are in for the harvest at Blue Zaunbrecher’s field Wednesday (July 30).
According to Dr. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, the 37-acre field yielded 7,601 pounds per acre. That works out to 46.9 barrels, or 169 bushels, or 76.01 hundredweight.
If the dry-down factor is considered for 12 percent moisture, the net yield is 7,282 pounds per acre, 45 barrels, 161.8 bushels or 72.82 cwt.
Zaunbrecher, shown in the combine pictured above, said the field’s wet conditions resulted in heavy rutting in some areas, but he is flooding the field for a possible second crop.
In the photo below, Zaunbrecher’s nephew, Bryce Zaunbrecher, levels out the rice being loaded onto a truck.

Meanwhile, harvest is expected sometime around Aug. 6 for the blog field at the Rice Research Station. Larry White, director of the rice station’s foundation seed program, said field received an inch of rain Thursday.

Field Work at Rice Station

A team of roguers walked seed production fields Monday at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station to remove plants called off-types that have undesired characteristics, such as excessive height, along with any red rice plants. However, red rice plants are very rarely found on the Rice Research Station. The fields are rogued to further ensure a variety’s purity.
Larry White, manager of the station’s seed production program, worked with the roguers and he is at far left in the picture.

Visitors to Wednesday’s Rice Station Field Day can get a look at the blog field during the tours Researchers will discuss their work during the hour-long field tours that start at 7:30 a.m. The final tour will start at 9:15 a.m.

The station received 1.03 inches of rain during the weekend.

Blog fields doing well

Another application of insecticide may be needed for Blue Zaunbrecher’s field to combat stinkbugs. Malathion was applied last week but a check of the field Wednesday (June 25) showed fairly high numbers of the insects.
LSU AgCenter County Agent Eddie Eskew found 40 stinkbugs in 120 sweeps with a net, and Kim Landry of the LSU AgCenter rice verification program counted 26 in 100 sweeps and Zaunbrecher came up with 44 in 100 sweeps. The minimum threshold is 30, so another insecticide application is being recommended.

Harvest is just around the corner, with a projected date of July 17 at the earliest, and Zaunbrecher said he will drain the north part of the field soon where the developing grains are in the dough stage. The developing grains on the south half of the field is in the milk stage.

For detailed explanations of milk and dough stages go to: http://lsuagcenterrice.blogspot.com/2007/07/rice-crop-maturing.html

Eskew said some fields in Jefferson Davis Parish are already being drained, which means they could be harvested as early as July 10.

The blog field at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station is about 10 percent headed, according to Larry White, manager of the Rice Station’s Foundation Seed Program.
He said a team will be at the field Monday to rogue the field of off-types and red rice.
The field probably won’t be ready for harvest until the last week of July or the first week of August, White said.

Heavy rainfall Wednesday dumped 1.72 inches (4.4 centimeters) of rain on the station.
The annual Rice Research Station Field Day will be held next Wednesday (July 2) with field tours beginning at 7:30 a.m. If you would like a firsthand look at the Catahoula blog field and also like to learn more about rice production, please plan to attend.