As I write this in early April, the weather is shifting back and forth between being warm and cold and there is the occasional rainfall. Many of you have started or are thinking about starting ground work in preparation for planting.
With funding from the CDFA Healthy Soils Program and CA Rice Research Board, we are evaluating how well different cover crop species establish, provide soil coverage, affect soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and/or impact rice yield in subsequent growing seasons.
A system of permanently flooded rice and a lack of diverse weed management techniques have selected for flood-tolerant weed populations in California water-seeded rice fields.
Arthropods have not been very problematic in California in the past few years. However, do not let your guard down and let the bugs catch you unprepared. The tadpole shrimp is our key pest.
This year brings several new chemical tools to California rice. With many herbicide resistant species as well as emerging problematic weed species, the new chemistries are a welcome tool for managing resistance and preventing the selection of resistant biotypes.
