Kaplan, Louisiana, USA
July 7, 2023
“The cleanest rice fields we’ve seen down here in many years.”
Dr. Adam Famoso, LSU AgCenter rice breeder, says new CLL19 has proven to be a high yielding rice variety that is very stable, based on years of testing in multiple locations.
That was the statement made repeatedly by attendees and speakers at the recent Horizon Ag 2023 Louisiana Field Day, held at Richard Farms in Kaplan.
Dr. Tim Walker, Horizon Ag general manager, told the crowd of over 100 attendees that the outstanding weed and grass control this season can be attributed to more farmers using proven weed management practices like applying residual herbicides, some help from Mother Nature and the overall superior control offered by the Provisia® Rice System.
“A big reason fields are so clean is that many farmers did a great job of using residual herbicides along with their Provisia herbicide this year,” said Dr. Walker. “They listened to the recommendations of the Provisia Working Group last fall and winter and, as a result, Provisia fields look outstanding in many areas.”
Horizon Ag Provisia variety PVL03, in only its second year of commercial availability, was planted on over 30 percent of the state’s rice acres this year, as more farmers turned to the high-yielding, high-quality variety and the Provisia Rice System to control costly weedy rice and resistant red rice.
“Farmers are saying they are very pleased with the control they are seeing with PVL03 and Provisia rice, with some bringing fields back into production that had been abandoned or that were cutting only 10 to 15 barrels,” said Dr. Walker. “The outcross issue in Provisia rice we experienced last year seems to be minimal this season, thanks to residual herbicide use and good management practices. Overall, we’re seeing consistently better weed and grass control in Provisia rice than with other systems.”
Another variety in the spotlight at the field day was new Horizon Ag Clearfield® variety CLL19, which is in seed production and expected to be available commercially in 2024. The semi-dwarf variety, from the LSU AgCenter breeding program at Crowley, represents a significant step up over CLL17 in terms of higher yield potential and stalk strength, while offering excellent blast resistance and milling quality.
Dr. Adam Famoso, LSU AgCenter rice breeder, said the excitement being shown regarding CLL19 coming to market is warranted, based on its consistently strong performance in multiple locations of testing over the past five seasons.
“It’s shown to be a really high yielding line that is very, very stable,” said Dr. Famoso. “It yields are right up there with CLL16 and CLL18, and it has very good milling potential. CLL19 is also quite a bit early, with a maturity more like CL111, but with much higher yield potential. It will fit well in a ratoon crop system.”
CLL19 variety testing included fields in Arkansas and Missouri, with CLL19 showing it does well across multiple environments.
Jason Satterfield, Horizon Ag District Field Representative for Northeast Arkansas and Missouri, told field day attendees that CLL19 looks strong planted side-by-side with CLL18 in seed production fields in Missouri.
“They were planted on the same day and went to flood back-to-back, so we’re getting a good chance to watch and compare them,” said Satterfield. “The CLL19 performance so far has been right there with the CLL18, which also has excellent vigor. It came out of the ground really good. If the yield can hold up with the CLL16 and CLL18, there is no doubt in my mind that it will be planted on a lot of acres in my territory because, historically, we get planted last and get cold first. Early maturity and high yields are what the rice farmers up there like to hear.”
Horizon Ag expects to replace CLL17 and older varieties like CL151 with CLL19, due to its significant advantages over those lines.
“This is about giving farmers the best seed options to be successful,” said Dr. Walker. “It’s exciting to see the development of these new varieties that raise the bar, in terms of yield, agronomic performance and overall profit potential.”
Clearfield® and Provisia® are registered trademarks of BASF.
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