Cover crops, weeds, irrigation on agenda for Aug. 3 rice field day

By Mary Hightower

U of A System Division of Agriculture

The Arkansas Rice Field Day is Aug. 3 at the Rice Research and Extension Center and this year’s event features a pair of two-hour field tours that will cover the spectrum of production issues including breeding, irrigation, weed, disease and pest management and fertility.

The tours will depart from the Foundation Seed Facility on the grounds of the research and extension center in Stuttgart. The first field tour leaves at 7:30 a.m., the second at 9:30 a.m. There is no cost to attend. The Rice Research and Extension Center is located at 2900 Arkansas Highway 130 East in Stuttgart.

With harvest so close at hand, one of the most timely discussions will be about cover crops, said Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“We’ll be talking about cover crops and where they’ll fit into rice production or rice rotation,” Hardke said. “We’re about to start harvest and soon after is when we’ll need to put in cover crops.”

Ehsan Shakiba, an assistant professor and rice breeder with the Division of Agriculture, will be discussing hybrid rice breeding and Manuel Esguerra will join him to talk about high nighttime temperatures and the effects on grain yield and quality.

Extension Entomologist Nick Bateman and PhD student Aaron Cato will discuss their work on cutoff timing for rice stink bugs, Hardke said.

Trent Roberts, associate professor and expert in soil and rice fertility, will have a talk on GreenSeeker and proper use of the handheld.

There will be a brief indoor program at 11:30a.m., before lunch begins.

For more information about rice production, contact your county extension office or visit www.uaex.edu.