| | Because of its Puerto Rican connection, the Rice Research Station breeding program squeezes three seasons out of a year, accelerating the process of developing new rice varieties. This is the nursery at LaJas, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Bruce Schultz) |
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| | The Rice Station hosts a field day every year in June. (Photo by Bruce Schultz) |
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| | A rice seed sprouting. (Photo by Bruce Schultz) |
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The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station, since it was founded 98 years ago, has a long history of conducting research and developing new rice varieties that benefit the rice industry in Louisiana as well as other states. Rice farmers in Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Missouri rely heavily on rice varieties developed at the station.
“The Rice Research Station is among the premier research organizations in the world devoted to rice,” said David Boethel, LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for research. “It has an international reputation excelling in all phases of rice culture – breeding and variety development, pest management, fertilization and physiology.”
2008 Rice Field Day
The annual Rice Research Station field day gives farmers and others the chance to get updates on research at the station. This year’s field day will be July 2, beginning at 7:30 a.m. and continuing through lunch.
“The annual Rice Research Station field day is an excellent opportunity for producers and others in the rice industry to obtain a concise update on technological advances in rice production,” said Steve Linscombe, director of the Rice Research Station. “In addition, knowledgeable speakers will provide up-to-the-minute information on the new Farm Bill as well as rice marketing developments.”
The field tours start at 7:30 a.m. and will include overviews of the station’s breeding program; weed, disease and insect control; and research projects with soybean and rice production. The last tour will start no later than 9:15 a.m.
A poster session highlighting research and agricultural products will be held from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.
The program starts at 10:45 a.m. with a review of Louisiana Rice Research Board activities by LRRB vice chairman Jackie Loewer, followed by Kyle McCann, rice commodity director for the Louisiana Farm Bureau, who will talk about the farm bill’s implications, and Gene Johnson, LSU AgCenter ag economist, who will talk about the world rice market. The program will end with remarks from Bill Richardson, LSU AgCenter chancellor.
Research Funding
Funding for research includes a major donation from Louisiana rice farmers themselves. They voluntarily pay a check-off fee of 5 cents per hundredweight, which goes into a fund distributed through the Louisiana Rice Research Board.
“We would not be in the rice business today had it not been for the hard work at the rice station,” said John Denison, rice farmer from Iowa, La., and founding member of the Rice Research Board. “The 1990s and the early 21st Century have been dominated by the rice breeding and rice farming technology developed at the station.”
Herbicide resistance allows farmers to spray for weeds without harming the rice. The No. 1 weed problem for rice growers is red rice, a close relative of commercial rice. By using the Clearfield technology developed at the Rice Research Station, farmers can finally have a better way to control red rice, and they can produce rice in a more environmentally friendly manner.
Spreading Research Information
County agents are on the front lines fighting the battles with farmers, and they rely on the station to help provide information to farmers.
Ron Levy, LSU AgCenter county agent in Acadia Parish, said the station’s unbiased recommendations from research is a reliable source of information.
“New variety development has been the single most effective way that research has kept producers in business,” he said. “With the continued reduction in the number of agricultural producers, research will allow rice production in Southwest Louisiana to continue."
Keith Fontenot, LSU AgCenter county agent in Evangeline Parish, said the station helps producers by researching techniques and materials. “The station provides proven tools for the farmers to use and not have to wonder what will work."
“Through station and off-station tests, researchers have tried it, know what the results will be, and work together with county agents and local industry personnel to get the proven results out to farmers,” Fontenot said.
Fontenot said the station is relied upon as an unbiased source.
“They have no product to sell, and nothing to promote. The researchers, like the county agents, are in the business of helping the producers be as productive as possible, in an environmentally friendly and safe way.”
Eddie Eskew, LSU AgCenter county agent in Jefferson Davis Parish, said the station has helped the industry accommodate change.
“Variety development has been the cornerstone. But cultural practices and pest management research have been just as important,” Eskew said. “As we struggle in this time of escalating input costs, the Rice Research Station assumes an even larger role in finding ways to survive.”
Eskew said the outreach efforts by the station have kept the staff in tune with farmers’ needs. Rice producers know who the research scientists are because they (scientists) have been participants in parish field days and meetings and have been on many of the farms in southwest Louisiana.”
Howard Cormier, LSU AgCenter county agent in Vermilion Parish, said the Rice Research Station‘s reliable information is an invaluable resource.
“The Rice Research Station continues to be the standard for accurate, unbiased information that farmers can rely on,” he said. “When rice farmers, county agents, dealers, or industry people have questions or problems, they appreciate having researchers who will give them the best answer available. Research is constantly being updated to find new answers that make dollars and sense for rice producers. Station personnel know many of the farmers by name, and this familiarity goes a long way in serving the rice industry, year in and year out."
Farmers Rely on Rice Station
Jeffrey Sylvester said the Rice Research Station’s breeding program is the station’s most significant asset for his farming operation in St. Landry Parish where he grows rice with his brothers. Research by the Rice Station saves farmers time and money.
“They’re always experimenting with things so we don’t have to try it in the fields. The information they give us keeps us up-to-date.”
Kevin Berken, who farms with his brothers in Jefferson Davis Parish, said the station’s varieties have boosted yields in the past three decades, from a standard of 25 barrels to more than 40 barrels in a normal year. “And we don’t have near the problems we had with red rice 30 years ago.”
Rice farmer Tommy Ellett of Angelina Plantation near Ferriday said he depends on recommendations from the AgCenter on fertilizers, pesticides and variety selections. In addition, Ellett said, Angelina buys foundation seed from the Rice Research Station to grow seed rice. Ellett said he has confidence in the AgCenter’s advice because the information is based on sound research.
“We depend heavily on the non-biased opinion of LSU,” he said.
Demonstration plots at Angelina show how new varieties will grow in the Angelina Plantation soil. That’s important because the climate, soil and insects differ from what exists at the station, he said.
The verification program directed by Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, has been a big help at Angelina, Ellett said.
Rice Verification Program
The Rice Verification Program was started in 1998 to help LSU AgCenter specialists confirm under real-world conditions their recommendations for rice production. Certain farms are selected each year to participate. The farmer must agree to follow the recommendations and receive weekly visits from AgCenter personnel.
“The program helps us identify areas where we need more research,” Saichuk said.
“What we’re basically seeing is about a 600-pound increase per acre in the verification fields for the parishes in the program,” Saichuk said. “The program so far has been doing real well in helping us determine what is needed to produce maximum yields.”
Puerto Rican Connection
Because of its Puerto Rican connection, the Rice Research Station breeding program squeezes three seasons out of a year, accelerating the process of developing new rice varieties.
Without the nursery program at LaJas, Puerto Rico, the breeding program would only be able to grow one generation of rice a year.
In late July or early August, seed from the first generation of a new rice breeding population is harvested at the station, then planted in Puerto Rico for harvest in early December. Seed from desirable plants in that crop also are planted in Puerto Rico shortly after that harvest. This second Puerto Rican planting is then harvested in April, and seed are brought back to the Rice Research Station for planting the following summer. It’s possible to have enough seeds to start yield tests at the Rice Research Station in two years after a cross is made, Linscombe said.
“We can cut three years off the time it takes to develop a new variety,” Linscombe said.
The LSU AgCenter established the nursery in the early 1970s in a cooperative agreement with the University of Puerto Rico. Others have joined in the endeavor, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M, University of Arkansas and Mississippi State University.
Impact
Numerous tangible advancements have been developed at the station:
- Scientists at the Rice Research Station developed the Clearfield rice technology. Its herbicide resistance allows farmers to spray fields to kill red rice, a wild form of rice that reduces yield and quality of a crop. Since its introduction in 2001, Clearfield rice has been grown on millions of acres of red rice infested rice fields and allowed producers to harvest better yields and higher quality crops on those acres. In addition, this technology has allowed produces to change cultural practices which have led to improvements in soil conservation and water quality.
- Nearly all of the rice grown in Louisiana was developed at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station in Crowley. The world’s first herbicide-resistant rice, which helps Louisiana producers fight the weeds that historically have plagued their rice, was developed here. Rice production contributed $250 million to the state’s economy in 2006.
- Varieties developed at the Rice Research Station dominate the acreage planted in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Louisiana. During the past decade, Louisiana varieties were planted on over 63 percent of the rice acres in those states.
- The Rice Research Station’s Foundation Seed program has produced over 16.3 million pounds of seed from 41 varieties since it started in 1949. The program uses a dryer system with eight bins, each 21 feet in diameter, and a state-of-the-art processing facility built at the station in 1996.
- Scientists at the station plant a total of approximately 10,000 research plots and more than 100,000 progeny rows in variety development activities each year.
- Research conducted at the research station has led to dramatic improvements in the control of rice diseases, weeds as well as insect pests. Several new and improved pesticides have been labeled in recent years and much of the research that led to these registrations were conducted on the research station.
The LSU AgCenter carries out the land-grant mission of research and extension for the Louisiana State University System. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, the AgCenter provides educational services in every parish and conducts research that contributes to the economic development of the state. The AgCenter does not grant degrees nor benefit from tuition increases. The AgCenter plays an integral role in supporting agricultural industries, enhancing rural areas and the environment, and improving the quality of life through its family and 4-H youth programs.
(This lead was updated by Linda Benedict on June 23, 2008.)