Rice highlights

Mississippi State University Rice Specialist

As this is written, the 1998 Mississippi rice harvest if about 60 percent complete. rice growers are reporting rough rice yields generally between 120 and 150 bushels per acre. Of course, there are some growers reporting higher yields but most yields are around 120 to 130 bushels per acre, which will make this an average crop. I believe the final yields will be above the USDA prediction of 120 bushels per acre but is is far from a bumper crop. The dry weather during the growing season caused some problems in keeping fields flooded and high temperature, especially at night, reduced grain weight and thus reduced yields. Disease pressure ranged from severe to light depending on the location.
Preliminary reports indicate that milling yields of the early crop are below average. During the cold Spring weather, rice emergence was erratic. Rice in some fields emerged over a two-week period, which caused uneven maturity. Deciding when to drain for harvest was difficult and some fields were drained too early, especially with the unusually high temperature during August and early September. Soil dried quickly and the immature grains didn't fill as expected. With the high temperature, grain moisture decreased rapidly and much of the rice was harvested at less than optimum moisture.
Mississippi is still primarily a one-variety state. According to my unofficial survey, Lemont was planted on about 73 percent of the acreage. cypress acreage was down to about 16 percent. Other varieties making up the remaining acreage were Kaybonnet, Jackson, Litton, Priscilla and Jefferson. There was also some Dixibelle and Rexmont grown under contract. Although Lemont is an older variety, when all agronomic characteristics are considered, it is difficult to find a variety as consistent. There are several new varieties being released and I will discuss them when all the 1998 results are in.
If you missed the 1998 Rice and Soybean field day at the Delta Research & Extension Center at Stoneville, you missed some very good information on all aspects of rice production. You can get a partial summary of the information on the Internet at www.msstate.edu/dept/drec. I encourage you to check this web site for the field day summary and other information related to rice. The 1998 acreage survey is also posted on this web site.
Mississippi State University Extension Service will sponsor a Rice Short Course on December 1 and 2 at the Bolivar County Agricultural Center in Cleveland. this short course is designed to provide in-depth information on the latest research findings in all aspects of rice production and marketing. This will be a good time to interact with research scientists and be sure they are addressing the problems you are facing. More information on the short course will be published later.