Rice is produced on about 180,000 acres and is a billion-dollar product for the state, according to Mo Way, an entomologist with Texas AgriLife Extension in Beaumont. New herbicide-resistant varieties, along with preventive controls for insect pests like the rice water weevil, have helped increase output to the point where some growers are able to get a second crop each year.
"If the first crop is harvested early enough, there's a good likelihood that they will get a second crop from the stubble of the first one," Way said. "The second crop will produce about a third or half of the main crop. If they get 7,000 pounds an acre off the first crop, the second crop will probably come in at about 4,000 pounds an acre."
The Rice belt in Texas extends from the Louisiana border to about 80 miles west of Houston and down the coast to Port Lavaca. It's also grown in a few select Northeast Texas counties.
The optimum time to plant rice in Texas is late March to mid-April. Getting the crop in on time is key to getting that second crop in the early fall, as is the control of diseases and pests. Harvests of the first crop have begun in some areas, but summer rains have hindered harvests in others areas and raised concerns about disease problems as harvest nears.
"It's been a pretty good year, hot and dry which is good for rice," Way said. He added that last year's excessively hot and dry weather resulted in some of the highest yields Texas farmers have seen in a long time.
A report by the USDA in June predicted continued low prices because of over planting. Trading was at $10 per hundred pounds in late July, its lowest point in almost three years and in stark contrast to two years ago when prices jumped to $19.
Way said the verdict is still out on whether or not too much rice has been planted because heavy rains in parts of the state have raised concerns about disease.
"We're just now hearing about some potential disease problems in some of the rice," Way said. "We'll be out in the fields, scouting for problems. We'll just have to see how it goes from here. Up to this point, yield potential has been good."
Dwight Roberts, president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, said the new technologies and practices, some of which Way and others at the Beaumont center have contributed to, have given producers more options when it comes to dealing with pest and disease problems
"Without some of the good technology and control improvements that have come along we wouldn't be in business today," Roberts said. "The specialty varieties that are being grown now allow us to market a product as much as a commodity. It gives producers the option of operating for a niche or specialty market. That's because of great research."
One of the niche markets is for organic rice, which brings with it a higher price but a dedicated customer base. Roberts said that between 12,000 to 14,000 acres of Texas rice is now certified as organic. During the financial crisis of 2008, the price of conventional rice rose to the point where some producers decided they could grow conventional rice and receive almost as much as they would for organic.
"As long as there is a good marker for organic rice, farmers will grow it," he said.
Roberts and other rice growers hope that a bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee last month to loosen payment restrictions for agricultural imports to the U.S. will open the Cuban market to Texas and U.S. producers. The committee also agreed on the removal of a travel ban to Cuba by U.S. citizens.
The U.S. has had a travel and trade embargo with Cuba since the 1960s. Changes in the embargo in 2000 allowed agriculture imports from the U.S. to Cuba but stipulates that Cuba must pay in cash and the transaction be handled by a third bank, one that is not American based.
"Easing the travel and payment restrictions would provide a big boost for Texas rice growers," Roberts said. "Cuba likes American rice, and now they have to import it all the way from Vietnam. This would benefit all parties."
Expansion of the market in Mexico also holds significant potential for growers, Roberts said. A new rail facility at Lacassine, Mexico is in the work and could handle 40 to 50 rail cars a day.
"There's definitely room for market expansion in Mexico," he said.
