North Arkansas: The drought conditions are continuing in North Arkansas with some isolated rains providing very short term relief. Most of the rice in the region has headed and raises the popular question of how the extreme heat will impact yields. In looking at the verification fields, I feel optimistic at this point, but the tale will be told at harvest. On a positive note, disease and stink bug pressure has been very low.
South Arkansas: Irrigation demands have reservoirs and rivers extremely low. The Clark County field has lost much of its irrigation source from the Quachita River. The field is in late boot to early heading stage and struggling. Two fields are drying (Arkansas #1) and (Chicot #2) and should be harvested the first week of August. Stink bug activity has been low.
| County | Variety | Stage/Harvest | General Information |
| Arkansas 1 | CL XL 745 | Harvest Date 8/10/12 | Field harvest 199 bu/acre dry. |
| Arkansas 2 | Roy J | Fully Mature | Field received 3.4” rainfall. The field is draining. |
| Arkansas 3 | CL 151 | Fully Mature | Field received 1” rainfall. The field is draining. |
| Chicot 1 | CL 151 | Harvest Date 8/21/12 | The field harvest was a record 242 bu/acre dry. Slight smut on the south end of field. N-Star worked very well. |
| Chicot 2 | CL 111 | Harvest Date 8/21/12 | Field harvest 182 bu/acre dry. |
| Clark | Francis | Soft Dough | The area finally received 2.6” rainfall. First decent rain since April 10th. Ouachita River rose enough for pumping back up the field. We will have to wait and see just how much damage due to lack of water. Stink bugs running 4 per 10 sweeps. |
| Desha | CL XL 745 | Medium Dough | Stink bug counts are at threshold. Recommendation: Karate 1gal to 60/acres. |
| Jefferson | XP 753 | Hard Dough/Mature | A twenty acre side of the field was accidently sprayed with a herbicide after the field was flooded delaying maturity. Half the field is ready for harvest the other half is two weeks behind. |
| Lincoln | XP 753 | Fully Mature | The field should be harvested at any time. |
| Lee | Roy J | Fully Mature | The field should be harvested this week. |
| Phillips | CL XL 745 | Fully Mature | The field should be harvested this week. |
| Clay | XP 753 | Hard Dough | The well was turned off last week and the field should be drained and harvested within the next few weeks. Very little noticeable difference is being observed in maturity on the area where the Newpath drift affected the rice early season. |
| Conway | XP 753 | Hard Dough/Mature | The field was drained a few weeks ago and should be harvested within the next few weeks. Sodium Chlorate will be recommended on the field due to the extremely later maturing volunteer rice. |
| Craighead | Roy J | Fully Mature | Harvesting field as of this writing. |
| Cross | CL 151 | Soft Dough | The well has been turned off and could be drained within a week. Harvest is a few weeks off due to maturity differences caused from inconsistent stand establishment. |
| Independence | Jupiter | Hard Dough | The field should be harvested within the next few weeks. |
| Jackson | Taggart | Fully Mature | Harvesting today if moisture low enough. |
| Poinsett | Jupiter | Hard Dough | The well was turned off a week ago and we expect to drain the field this week. Harvest should be within the next few weeks. |
| Prairie | CL XL 745 | Fully Mature | The field is expected to be harvested this week. |
| Randolph | XL 723 | Hard Dough | The well was turned off last week. We expect to drain it later in the week and harvest in few weeks. |
| White | Taggart | Hard Dough | The field was drained today and we expect to harvest in the next few weeks. |
