‘Something new’ the theme at crops field day

Aug. 24, 2009
Contact Information:

Howell Medders, Division of Agriculture Communications
hmedders@uark.edu, 479-575-5647

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COLT, Ark. – “Something new” could have been the theme at a field day Aug. 20 at the Pine Tree Research Station near Colt. It has been a recurring theme at field days by University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture scientists all summer.

At the Pine Tree Research Station, where the focus is on row crops, the topics included new rice seed treatments, a new nitrogen soil test, two new rice varieties, the new USA Rice Federation Sustainability Task Force, a new ATV safety training program for teens and a new rice recipe by Lydia Holmes, Miss St. Francis County Rice.

One exception to the theme was a warning about an increase in herbicide-resistant weed populations from weed scientist Jason Norsworthy.

“We are quickly running out of modes of action. We need new chemistries,” said Norsworthy. Herbicide resistance in Arkansas has been confirmed in four of the five chemistries approved for rice, he said.

“Resistance is the number one issue we are facing in rice weed control,” he said.

Keys to preventing herbicide resistance include use of different herbicide chemistries and proper application to ensure complete control of weeds, Norsworthy said. One healthy barnyardgrass plant can produce 100,000 seeds, so just a few resistant plants in a field can create a large soil bank of resistant weed seed, he said.

On a happier note, in 2010 rice producers will have new insecticide seed treatments that promise to add 15 to 20 or more bushels of grain yield per acre, entomologist Gus Lorenz said.

“With rice water weevil in every rice-growing county and grape colaspis (lespedeza worms) in the higher producing counties, everybody should try them,” Lorenz said.

Based on his field test results, Lorenz said the seed treatments not only provide excellent control of insect larvae that damage rice plants, they also increase seedling vigor, which results in higher yields.

The products are Dermacor from DuPont and Cruiser from Syngenta, which should be available for the 2010 planting season, and NipsIt Inside from Valent, which is expected to be available in 2011.

They will fill a gap left by the loss in 2004 of the highly effective Icon seed treatment that was taken off the market due to crawfish kills attributed to the product in Louisiana.

Two improved Arkansas rice varieties with unique combinations of genetic traits, Taggart and Templeton, will be available to farmers as registered seed in 2010 and certified seed in 2011.

The new varieties were developed in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture's rice breeding program based at the Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart and directed by Karen Moldenhauer and James Gibbons.

Large kernels along with high yield potential and milling quality are major assets for Taggart, Moldenhaur said. Large kernels are good for parboiling.

Taggart is rated moderately susceptible to sheath blight disease and is susceptible to most races of rice blast disease, but it has good field resistance to blast when a deep flood can be maintained on the rice throughout the season, she said.

Templeton is the only Arkansas adapted variety with resistance to all known blast disease races in the state, Moldenhauer said. It has the major gene, Pi-ta, which confers resistance to the common races of rice blast disease in Arkansas, and minor genes for moderate resistance to the race IE-1k.

 Templeton has performed well in state trials with very high grain yield potential and milling yields better than Wells, a variety released in 1999 from the Arkansas breeding program and the most widely planted variety in 2009.

Jennifer James, a Jackson County rice farmer, gave a presentation on the USA Rice Federation’s Sustainability Task Force. James is the volunteer chair of the task force. The goal is to document practices that impact the sustainability of rice production as a benchmark for future improvements, she said.

James said sustainability is defined in economic, environmental and social terms of satisfying human food and fiber needs, while maintaining the economic viability of farm operations; enhancing environmental quality and the natural resources base; and enhancing the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

The year 2011 is the target date for implementation of a new soil test for nitrogen in rice, if large-scale trials in producers’ fields in 2010 go as expected, soil scientist Rick Norman said. He and his University of Arkansas graduate students have developed the first-ever, site-specific soil test for nitrogen in any crop.

Current nitrogen fertilizer recommendations are based on past performance of a variety over a broad soil classification, which can result in too little or too much nitrogen being applied in any given field, Norman said.

The Nitrogen Soil Test for Rice, or “Nstar,” will be provided by the Arkansas Soil Testing and Research Program operated by the Division of Agriculture.

A site-specific test for soil nitrogen has eluded soil scientists, until now, because soil nitrogen in the form available to plants changes constantly in the soil. Norman and his students have identified measurable stable compounds in the soil that are highly correlated to availability of nitrogen to rice plants.

The concept can be used for site-specific nitrogen soil tests in any crop or system, including organic production, Norman said. He is now working on a test for wheat.

Lorenz, the entomologist, reviewed the now-familiar bad news for soybean producers that insect pests are gearing up for their own field day.

“Scout your beans. If you can’t, find someone who can,” he said.

A wet spring and early summer resulted in late planting of many fields, giving insects time to build up for a feeding frenzy. As in most crops, an early soybean harvest is desired to avoid late-season pest infestations, which are also increased by insects moving in from harvested fields further south, Lorenz said.

John McFarland, Craighead County extension agent, and Subodh Kulkarni said a new Division of Agriculture safety training program for riding all terrain vehicles is designed for teens. Arkansas has a very high rate of teenagers killed and injured in ATV accidents, McFarland said. For details, contact your county extension office.

For a “Rice Romanoff” recipe created by Miss St. Francis County Rice, Lydia Holmes, and other rice dishes and nutrition facts, contact the St. Francis County extension office. Holmes is available for presentations in the county on the nutritional benefits of rice.