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Three new Horizon Ag rice varieties that fill critical needs for Southern farmers today will be available to plant in the 2020 season.

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Two of the varieties – CLL15, a long grain, semi-dwarf Clearfield® rice variety, and CLM04, a medium grain Clearfield rice – are the first Clearfield releases developed by Dr. Xueyan Sha, University of Arkansas professor and rice breeder, in his program at the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Both offer the potential for higher yields and excellent weed control, based on three years of university rice cultivar testing, on-farm trials and seed production fields.

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Farmers will also have access to the next generation Provisia® rice variety – PVL02, developed in the breeding program at the Louisiana State University AgCenter. The Provisia Rice System, developed in partnership with BASF, provides an alternative to imidazolinone herbicide-tolerant rice like Clearfield, enabling farmers to return to profitability in fields overrun with resistant, costly weedy rice and red rice.

CLL15 has consistently shown average yields 5 bushels to 10 bushels higher than varietal industry standards like Horizon Ag CL151 and CL153 in multi-year tests. In 2019, numerous fields of CLL15 dried 185 bushels per acre or more, with the best farm yielding over 200 bushels per acre dry across 280 acres.

Arkansas County, Arkansas, farmer Darren Walker, who had new Horizon Ag CLL15 in seed production in 2019, said he was impressed with how the variety performed. He expects CLL15 to be a popular variety with farmers in his area in 2020.

“CLL15 is a game changer for the rice industry,” said the farmer. “Mine out-yielded my past plantings of Clearfield hybrid XL745. When you figure in the lower seed cost for the variety compared to the hybrid, planting CLL15 is a no-brainer.” 

 CLL15 has excellent milling characteristics, including good grain length and low chalk. The variety also has broad-spectrum blast resistance similar to that found in CL153 and CL172. It measures approximately 38 inches tall and stands extremely well.

“With CLL15, farmers can have the confidence they are planting an Arkansas-bred variety that has proven to be a strong performer, combined with the outstanding weed control they have come to expect from the Clearfield technology,” said Dr. Tim Walker, Horizon Ag General Manager. “This new variety is one that can give farmers the return on investment they need this season.”

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For farmers who plant medium grain rice, new CLM04 is an early-maturing, semi-dwarf rice with outstanding yield potential, along with good milling and grain quality. In 43 state and regional trials from 2016 to 2018, it averaged 198 bushels per acre, better than CL272 and Jupiter. Amylose content and gelatinization temperatures are almost identical to Kellogg’s-approved Jupiter. CLM04, like Jupiter, contains the Pi-ks gene; however, CLM04 also contains the Pi-z gene.

Milling yield averaged 60.1% head rice to 68% total rice in 23 Arkansas state and regional trials. Its chemical composition is nearly identical to Jupiter, which is part of CLM04’s breeding lineage, making it a good choice for cereal companies. Compared to other popular medium grain varieties, CLM04 has good lodging resistance.

“We’ve sent Kellogg’s a large sample of CLM04 this year for a pilot-scale run and are waiting for their approval,” said Dr. Walker.

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PVL02 is the second Provisia line from Horizon Ag and, in multi-year testing, it has shown a 10% yield increase on average over the first varietal release, PVL01, in both the main and ratoon crops. PVL02 is also about one week earlier maturing than PVL01.

“With Provisia varieties and the Provisia Rice System, farmers now have a solution to weedy rice, hard-to-control barnyard grass and other troublesome grasses that have developed over the course of time since the release of the Clearfield system,” said Dr. Walker. “From what we’ve seen, we believe this is, no doubt, the best grass control system available today.”

 “Just about everyone who has used the Provisia Rice System, which was on about 50,000 acres in 2019, raves about the grass and weedy rice control,” he said. “If you are fighting hard-to-control grass and the weedy rice complex and getting yields of 130 to 140 bushels, why not go to Provisia rice varieties that will give you the opportunity for 150 to 160 bushels and start to clean up the problem you have? More and more farmers are doing just that.”

For more information, farmers can call 1-800-356-9033 or see their Horizon Ag and BASF Authorized Retailers.

Clearfield® and Provisia® are registered trademarks of BASF. ©2019 Horizon Ag, LLC. All Rights Reserved

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