March 22, 2010
More north Louisiana farmers are switching to rice instead of corn, soybeans and cotton.
Garrett Marsh of Tallulah, La., grew his first rice crop last year. “I was here to get a refresher,” he said of a March 4 rice-growing clinic sponsored by the LSU AgCenter.
He also farms corn and soybeans, but he has eliminated cotton, replacing it with rice.
Marsh — whose soils are heavy clay and more suited to rice than cotton — said he was satisfied with his first rice crop that yielded 181 bushels to 200 bushels an acre.
Because rice doesn’t suffer through droughts, it is a more dependable crop because water is pumped onto the crop.
Marsh’s father, Jim, said hot summers often create quality problems for soybeans. “You can’t sell rotten soybeans.”
Garrett said he is eager to plant his rice crop this spring, although drill seeding will be a problem if some of the ground moisture doesn’t evaporate. “If it will just give us a week of dry weather, it will dry up.”
Don Taves of Tallulah has planted rice previously, but always learns something from the clinics.