USA
March 15, 2018

At this time last year, we had a large percentage of our crop planted in south Louisiana, while Texas was having a hard time getting going with planting. This year is completely the opposite. Planting is wide open on the west side of Houston, and a lot of acres were planted last week. Farmers are running hard, and if progress continues at this pace, the majority of the rice west of Houston will be planted very soon.

The east side of Houston and south Louisiana are really struggling to get rice planted. It has been extremely wet, and it seems like we get another rain every few days. We do have some rice planted in Louisiana, but it is not nearly what we would normally expect it to be at this time of year. The last rain was this past Sunday, but it was really spotty, and we do have a few drills that started going on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. This may be short-lived, however, as we have another big chance of rain Friday and Sunday. Every year is different, and this one is definitely starting off a lot different than last year.

There is one big difference this season that should bode well for rice farmers dealing with the weedy rice complex that has become a serious problem in many fields. We are excited to offer PVL01, the first variety that is tolerant to Provisia™ herbicide, in 2018. Many farmers are going to implement the Provisia Rice System this year, and we have a lot of acres that really need it.

The field in the picture (above) is going to be planted in Provisia rice this year. Although from the photo it looks like the field has been planted, this is a “stand” of weedy rice. This is just one example of many of the fields in the South that farmers need to clean up.

The Provisia Rice System is the only solution currently available that can kill weedy rice and restore impacted fields to optimum production and rotation. The variety PVL01 holds promise to perform exceptionally well in severely infested fields. I am going to keep everyone updated on this field throughout the year and will include pictures once the farmer is able to get the field planted and sprayed.

 

Website: http://www.horizonseed.com

Published: March 15, 2018