BrazilThe rice fields in Brazil are harvested. I am continuously receiving the harvest data, which will be published to the website in the coming weeks (www.CirclesForRice.com). In general, it seems the rice produced with traditional flood methods yielded lower this year, compared with past years; this outcome was due to unusually wet weather. The center pivot rice fields also faced challenges this growing season due to the amount of rain.
We have so far observed that the rice fields under center pivots that managed and maintained good weed control had good yields; those fields that did not maintain weed control very well did not meet expectations.
Our experiences and observations from both this growing season in Brazil and last year's growing season in the U.S. further stress a key benefit to producing rice under center pivots and linears: the ability to apply fertilizer through the machine. Both field experience in the U.S. and research data from the University of Missouri Delta Research Center illustrate that fertigation through a center pivot or linear is not only a good production practice for nutrient management, but is also an economical application solution.
United States
Plans for the 2010 growing season in the United States are currently being finalized.
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