Glyphosate-Resistant Ryegrass In Mississippi
The severity of the glyphosate-resistant
(GR) Italian ryegrass problem in Mississippi
has varied from year to year, says Jason
Bond, Mississippi State University
Research/Extension weed scientist.
“This year has been the worst year since
the initial confirmation in 2005, and GR Italian
ryegrass is spreading,” Bond says. “In
the spring of 2011, there were 13 counties
in Mississippi with confirmed GR Italian ryegrass.
We have identified an additional 15
counties in 2012 with several of these counties
located in the hills.
“Corn is generally considered to be one
of the more competitive crops because it
emerges quickly, grows rapidly and shades
the middles in a much shorter time than cotton
or soybeans. However, corn is not competitive
with large ryegrass, which is present
right now across the Mississippi Delta.
“Similar to corn, rice is also sensitive to
early season competition from Italian ryegrass,”
he adds. “In 2011, we conducted a
study at Stoneville comparing rice growth in
plots with and without Italian ryegrass.
“Where rice was planted into Italian ryegrass
residue, rice seedling density was
reduced 25 percent, height was reduced 33
percent, and rice maturity was delayed from
seven to 12 days compared with plots that
did not contain Italian ryegrass residue. By the
end of the season, rice yields were 15 percent
lower in plots that contained ryegrass
residue early in the season.”
Bond says some ALS-inhibiting herbicides
(Group 2 herbicides) such as Steadfast or
Stout labeled for corn and Beyond labeled
in Clearfield rice provide fair postemergence control of Italian ryegrass. Unfortunately,
Italian ryegrass is resistant to ALS herbicides
across much of the Mississippi Delta, rendering
this chemistry ineffective for ryegrass
control. Therefore, it is imperative to control
all Italian ryegrass before the crop emerges.
After Italian ryegrass reaches 12 inches,
paraquat is the most
consistent control
option prior to crop
emergence, the Mississippi
weed scientist
says. Large ryegrass (12
to 24 inches) will
require two applications
of paraquat (4 pints of
Gramoxone SL or 2.67
pints of 3-lb paraquat)
spaced seven to 10 days
apart. Atrazine (1 quart)
may be added to paraquat
applications in
fields planted to corn.
Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Abolish ‘Death Tax’
As reported by USA Rice Daily, U.S. Senator
John Thune (R-SD) last week introduced
the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of
2012 (S. 2242) to abolish the federal estate tax
or “death tax.” The bill would eliminate the
generational skipping transfer tax, make permanent
the maximum 35 percent maximum
gift tax rate and provide a $5 million lifetime
gift tax exemption.
Sen. Thune’s news release quotes a recent
study by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director
of the Congressional Budget Office, which
found that repealing the death tax would create
1.5 million additional small business jobs
and decrease the national unemployment rate
by one percent.
Rice-state senators supporting the measure
include Sens. John Boozman (R-AR),
Roy Blunt (R-MO), Thad Cochran (R-MS),
John Cornyn (R-TX), Kay Bailey Hutchinson
(R-TX), David Vitter (R-LA) and Roger
Wicker (R-MS).
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced
identical legislation in the House (H.R. 1259),
and the bill currently has more than 200 bipartisan
cosponsors, including nearly 20 members
from rice districts.
USA Rice Federation has long supported
permanent repeal of the estate tax, which
would strengthen U.S. agriculture by providing
certainty in estate planning for farmers,
ranchers and others who pass their operations
to the next generation.
For more information, contact Johnny
Broussard at (703) 236-1451.
RiceTec Offers New App Update For iPhone/iPad
A completely renovated iPhone/iPad app from RiceTec is available in the App Store.
The app is free, and new features to the RiceTec Toolbox app include:
• Integrated grain drill calibration tool
• Drill calibration videos
• Current weather for your location
• Rice market news
• Seeding rate calculator
• Hybrid rice management guidelines
• 2012 product information
The app can be downloaded from iTunes. |
