Furrow Irrigated Rice Summary

We have had a couple of calls from consultants and growers this week about utilizing furrow irrigated rice as an option if planting or levee construction is delayed due to rain.  With an additional 2-5 inches of rainfall forecast for this weekend, we thought this may be a good opportunity to summarize the blog post of the last few weeks.

1. Furrow irrigated rice is a management tool.  Producers can use furrow irrigated rice to block off a field verses planting a glyphosate tolerant crop next to rice and risk drift issues.
2. Furrow irrigated rice can be planted on any grade of field.  The economic benefits appear to be greater the steeper the grade due to the total number of levees eliminated.
3. Furrow irrigated rice is an alternative when levees building has been delayed by rain.  Last year we had a number of producers not able to pull levees due to continuous rain events at flood timing.  These producers pulled furrows with their Orthman, (instead of levees) fertilized, laid the poly pipe, and cut the pump on.
4. Depending on the grade of the field water use may be reduced.  Last year on the on farm trials, considering all location, water use was similar when compared to the multi-side inlet AWD fields.
5. Weed control has just not been an issue in our small plots and our “on farm” locations,  just be aware that scouting is more important. Broad leaf weeds may need intensive scouting.
6. Small plot data as well as on farm observations suggest that split fertilizer recommendations are the best.
7. Even though many producers are not seeing a yield loss, we would recommend you expect an 7-15 bushel yield loss.

If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to call.

you can find the archived blog post here: Small Plot, Yields, On Farm 

Furrow Irrigated Rice Video