UC Rice Blog

The annual Rice Field Day will be Wednesday, August 26th, 2026, at the Rice Experiment Station (RES), Biggs, California. We cordially invite you and your associates to join us for this event. The purpose of the Rice Field Day is to give rice growers and others an opportunity to observe and discuss research…

I found blast in two fields last week; one is near Willows and the other is near Maxwell. The infections seem to be starting; there were only a few leaf lesions. In these fields, and in a third one near Knights Landing, I am also monitoring weather.Three things are needed for disease to start: the pathogen,…

It's weed seed collection season! As weeds mature through summer and early fall, now's the time to gather seed samples from any herbicide-resistant species you've spotted in your fields.How to know if what you are seeing is likely resistance (and what to collect): Weeds are located in clumps“Streaks” of…

In the past few years, the number of calls that the rice advisors have been getting about bakanae have increased substantially. In almost all cases, the grower or PCA reached out to us because there was high incidence of bakanae in the field even though the seed had been treated with bleach. This led to some…

According to the June 2026 NASS Acreage Report, U.S. rice planted area fell sharply to 2.017 million acres, a 28% drop from the previous season and the lowest number of rice acres since the 1970s. The steep decline is largely attributed to severe weather issues (including localized moderate to extreme…