What a great day! This could be read a couple of different
ways. I could be talking about the Canadian air mass came our way last week,
which will finally brought a significant respite to our long, hot summer here in Nebraska. Even
more welcome are the increased opportunities for a little rainfall in this parched
area.
No, the “great day” to which I refer is the center pivot rice field
day we held at Dennis Robison’s farm near Neelyville, Missouri last week. We had a
really good turnout— participants including rice
professionals, farmers and some international rice growers interested in seeing
for themselves how this stuff works. In addition, the weather cooperated; for
an August day in southern Missouri, it was remarkably…well, I wouldn’t say
“comfortable,” but “not miserable” would certainly apply! It was cool enough in
the morning that the presentations (in the shade) were not too hot, and by the
time it started to really heat up, we were eating a delicious lunch and getting
back into air-conditioned vehicles.
We had a few presentations on various topics, including
fertility issues, irrigation scheduling, weed control, and how this fits into
the rotation Dennis uses on this field. We also tried to address some common
myths that keep people from considering this technology, and answered
questions. Two years ago, on this field, Dennis grew 186 bu/ac rice, and the
rice this year looks every bit as good as that crop did. We will see how it
turns out. Dennis has done another great job this year, and the rice looked
wonderful. He estimated three or four weeks to harvest, and he certainly has a
lot of rice in his field.
Some of you probably know that there are two Kellys here; the
grumpy old man (me) and the bright, talented young woman (Kelly Cackin). The
talented one was there, taking photos, so I will leave it to her to supply some
photos, video, or other links in a separate post,
so you can see a little bit of what went on.
I am back in that neighborhood this week, hosting some
rice researchers from the Brazilian research organization Embrapa. We will
visit with rice researchers and farmers in Arkansas and Missouri, including
another visit to our cooperators’ fields in this area, so I will try to give
you another update then. We will visit both flood and pivot fields, so we
should get some good information on conditions for both. The Embrapa researchers are active in both flood and
pivot rice research, and hope to forge some relationships with their peers
here. These professional collaborations can benefit growers in both countries,
so it will be good to see how things develop.
As we get closer to harvest, I hope this turns out to be a
great year for you; stay cool and be safe. I look forward to talking with you
again soon.
