US rice crop will be big, at least in size

(By Dwight Roberts, USRPA) Planting continues to move forward wherever possible, with Arkansas significantly ahead of the average 5-year seeding rate. The largest rice producing state in the US is at 51/21% planted/emerged, compared to the 5-year average of 32/10%. Louisiana is at 86/81%, Mississippi at 39/11%, Missouri at 63/12% and Texas at 74/58%. In short, both planting and emergence are ahead of schedule. Farmers in NE Arkansas and SE Missouri must plant by June 1. One farmer from Arkansas commented that “where he buys seed, he was informed last week that he needs to take the rest of the inputs because there is so much demand that they can no longer monitor it in their warehouse”. Tractors are running at full throttle in medium-grain areas in California, with some of the first seeds planned to be hauled in this week. The market is largely on autopilot right now, with growers focused on seeding new crops with almost no supply of old crops. The latest tranche of business in ...