Combinations of herbicides that have proven effective, including Zembu, Cliffhanger and Dodhylex, were all spoken highly of at Field Day. Photo by Connie Voss

BIGGS, CA (MPG) - Local rice farmers and researchers eagerly attended the annual Rice Field Day, Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Rice Experiment Station (RES) north of Biggs.

The event was hosted by the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation (CCRRF) of the University of California. Presentations were made on the latest weed control products, new insecticides and improved rice varieties.

Fifth-generation rice farmer Kyle LaMalfa was among the guests. He told the Gridley Herald in an interview that he and his bride Lizzett are taking over the LaMalfa family rice farm on Highway 99. The farm has been in operation since 1931.

LaMalfa got a degree in Agribusiness from Butte College. Lizzett has a degree in Business from Chico State and has worked for Lundberg Rice Farms. With her experience, she will handle the business side of the operation.  Kyle underlined that the research conducted by the Rice Experiment Station is important to the rice industry. He has attended the Field Day for several years “to stay up to date on everything.”

Dr. Ian Grettenberger of UC Davis discusses control of tadpole shrimp and armyworms. Photo by Connie Voss

The event began with a general meeting for business, including awards of two scholarships to Consuelo Baez Vega, a student at CSU Chico, and Michael Lynch of UC Davis. Both are pursuing careers in the rice industry and presented research at Field Day. Recognition was also given to Randall Mattson of Richvale.

In addition, the 2024 Rice Industry Award went to Charley Mathews Jr. of Marysville. Mathews, another fifth-generation rice farmer, was praised for his leadership and many contributions to the rice industry.

All of the attendees then toured both the Weed Science test area on Hamilton Road and the Main Station on Highway 162. The Main Station is where the new varieties of rice are developed.

Weed Science speaker K. Al-Khatib discussed a number of herbicides including Zembu, Cliffhanger, Pendimethalin, Dodhylex and Roxy Rice Production System (RPS). The latter two are not yet available, but will be upon EPA approval, probably in 2025.

“Dodhylex will be a game-changer,” Al-Khatib said. 

K. Al-Khatib presents the latest findings in weed control. Photo by Connie Voss

Weeds become resistant to herbicides over time, making it necessary to keep developing new formulations. Some brands can be mixed with others to produce better results.  Each test patch was neatly labelled according to the herbicide or combination used there for evaluation. Hand-outs with a comprehensive list of each herbicide, combinations, coverage and prices were handed out to the audience.

Regarding the herbicides, LaMalfa said, “Cliffhanger looks promising, and I’ve heard from a few people that it works pretty well…. We dabbled a little bit with some Zembu this year, and we were happy with it—and it looked good out here too. So, it seems like that is a pretty promising product.  The Zembu-Cerano [combination] worked well for them. [It] worked well for us also.”

For the Main Station tour, participants boarded trucks that drove to five different test areas: 1) Pest Management, Water Grass, and Herbicide Resistance Updates; 2) Rice Agronomy, Fertility, and Insect Management; 3) Medium Grain and Herbicide Tolerant Rice Breeding; 4) Short grain Breeding Program & Genome-wide Selection: 5) Long Grain Rice Breeding Program.

Insecticides aim to control common rice pests, such as tadpole shrimp (TPS) and armyworms. Tadpole shrimps are also affected by the temperature of the water. The tadpole shrimp eat germinating rice and uproot seedlings. Like the weeds, the pests also become resistant to different treatments, according to Dr. Ian Grettenberger from UC Davis.

Many patches of rice varieties were growing, including aromatic vs. non-aromatic, short, medium or long grain, Jasmine, Basmati, Calrose, and Arborio. Some were designated only by letters and numbers. No new rice varieties are available to purchase this year, but two will be in 2025, including California Arborio—an Italian-type rice with a light Jasmine aroma that is best cooked as risotto. Everyone in attendance received a vacuum-packed sample of California Arborio Type rice to take home. California dominates the market for medium-grain exports.

LaMalfa said he was curious to see about a new medium-grain variety that “is going to have a higher yield than the M-211. That is a high yielder, but they’re saying with less of a chance of chalkiness. So that’s a big plus for us.”

Fifth generation tice farmer Charley Mathews Jr. receives the 2024 Rice Industry Award from Kim Gallagher, vice chairman of CCRRF. Photo by Connie Voss

Less chalkiness is just one of the many characteristics that rice farmers are looking for. New varieties are developed to improve yield, have low Amylose (a non-digestible component of starch), and shorter stalks—just to name a few.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who was also in attendance, concurred that years of experimentation had produced lower Amylose, shorter stalks and more grains per head, making the yield higher. He also said that research at the Rice Experiment Station is critical since some herbicides and insecticides are lost due to regulation.

The percentage of Amylose was also important to researchers such as Wally and James, employees of USDA who travelled from Berkeley to attend the Field Day. They were specifically looking for types of rice with 22% Amylose for puffed rice snacks.    

Field Day concluded with lunch featuring sushi and several types of rice of course, labelled for easy comparison.