The weather this spring has allowed rice to be planted across most of the state at record pace. As of June 6, rice planting is finally complete. This compares to 99% last week and 97% this time last year. Rice planting is typically complete during the second week of June, although a few acres may actually still be planted later. The USDA estimates that 99% of the rice acreage has emerged. This compares to 89% last year at this time and 96% for the 5-year average. Our planting progress has proceeded about 2-3 weeks ahead of the 5-year average and a month ahead of last year. As of June 6, 18% of the crop is reported to be in excellent condition, 53% good, 25% fair, and 4% poor.
Average temperatures were above normal ranging from 4 degrees above normal at several locations to 8 degrees above normal at Keiser and Brinkley for the week ending June 6. The temperatures ranged from a low of 61 degrees at several locations to a high of 98 degrees at El Dorado. Rainfall for the week ending May 30 ranged from none at several locations to a high of 1.9 inches at Mena. Overall, soil moisture supplies were 2% very short, 29% short, 64% adequate, and 5% surplus.
Much of the rice is reaching the stage for flood establishment and several thousand acres have already been flooded. Remember to wait until the soil dries to apply preflood nitrogen fertilizer and then apply a shallow flood as quickly as possible. Some rice has reached midseason. Remember that a there is a window for applying midseason N between green ring and ½” internode elongation.
Very early estimates suggest that CL 151 is the most widely planted variety so far (about 23% of the acreage). The next most widely planted varieties are Wells (16%), Rice Tec CL XL 745 (16%) and Jupiter (12%). These numbers are preliminary and may change as we get more information available.
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