Rice Planting Progress

The 2013 rice planting season has begun in Mississippi. In addition to the first planting date study my staff planted Thursday, March 14, rumor has it a small amount of rice was planted near Arcola March 15 and 16. Rice was being planted Tuesday (19th) and Wednesday (20th) near Hollandale. The first On-Farm Variety Trial was planted south of Hollandale on Wednesday, March 20th. Based on conversations I have had with growers, more planting will begin Monday, March 25 depending upon how much rainfall we receive over the next few days. Compared to last year, I expect emergence to be slower. I compiled and included the soil temperature data from Stoneville (March 21 soil temperature chart). This data shows that current (2013) soil temperatures are running near the 30 year normal. March of 2012 was abnormally warm, and thus allowed emergence to occur in the normal 7 to 10 day timing that we see in rice that is typically planted in Mid-April. For rice already planted and based on forecasted temperatures, I would expect an emergence time of 2 to 3 weeks. The planting date study I mentioned earlier should give us very good seedling vigor information for the 16 entries we have included. Seed treated with gibberellic acid (GA) will typically emerge 2 to 3 days before non-GA treated seed, especially in early planted rice. As we move towards planting more rice in March, we need to be aware of burndown herbicide planting restrictions. Glyphosate plus 2,4-D is a popular, broad-spectrum burndown treatment for rice. However, 2,4-D, should not be applied within 28 days of rice planting. Sharpen received labeling for burndown application to rice in 2011. The preplant interval for Sharpen is more lenient than for 2,4-D, but applications are still restricted to 15 days prior to planting. Finally, Select Max or other formulations of clethodim used to control Italian ryegrass has a 30-day preplant interval. Be sure to follow the labeled recommendations for planting rice following burndown herbicides.