USA - Horizon Ag has strong variety offering for 2022

By Scott McClure

With the 2021 season fading in the rearview mirror, rice farmers are starting to look ahead to 2022 and the varieties that will provide the best opportunity for improved profitability.

Horizon Ag has two new varieties – PVL03 and CLHA02 – joining an already strong lineup of varieties offering proven performance across the region.

PVL03 is the third and highest-yielding variety released for the Provisia Rice System.

PVL03 is the third and highest-yielding variety released for the Provisia^® Rice System. PVL03 has proven yield potential rivaling and even exceeding that of other top-performing rice lines. Louisiana trials in 2019 and 2020 showed PVL03 yielding almost 8,500 pounds per acre, outyielding Cheniere and putting it on par with top-yielding Clearfield^® varieties like CL153.

It repeated that strong performance in 2021 in seed production plots. "We planted 200 acres of it this year,” says Rayne, Louisiana, farmer Fred Zaunbrecher. “Seed quantity was limited, and Horizon Ag wanted to put as many acres out as possible with fewer pounds, so for us, the seeding rate ended up being 23-24 pounds per acre. That’s not a lot of seed out there, but the variety still looked exceptionally good. We had yields in the mid-40 barrels per acre range and one field that actually made 50 barrels per acre. We were very pleased with that."

PVL03 has excellent stalk strength and is a superior package quality milled rice. It also has an industry-leading disease package, with resistance to serious threats like blast and Cercospora.

That performance comes with the advantages of the Provisia Rice System and Provisia herbicide, which have earned a reputation for providing the cleanest fields in the region and helping many farmers overcome yield-robbing hybrid weedy rice and resistant grass problems.

"There is really no technology like Provisia available today," says Dr. Tim Walker, Horizon Ag general manager. "Other seed companies are playing catch-up and making unsubstantiated claims about performance potential, but the Provisia Rice System with Provisia herbicide has already proven to be one of the most effective weed management tools available for Southern rice. Provisia herbicide doesn’t require a safener like some other herbicides, so it’s going to be more effective. Best of all, farmers have seen it work."

New CLHA02, the second high-amylose Clearfield variety, will be available for planting in 2022. It was developed by rice breeders at Mississippi State University and is another step to bringing back the quality standard the U.S. rice industry was known to provide for decades, yet has waned over the last 10-15 years.

It will provide farmers better opportunities for premiums, which is especially important heading into a year where input costs have increased dramatically. It also is expected to generate interest in more Identity Preservation contracts with domestic and global customers, who are specific in their needs and demands for rice.

CLHA02 proved to be a high-yielding variety in multiple university trials throughout the region, with yields the last two seasons comparable to CLL16 and other top performers.

CLL17 is an elite Clearfield variety bred in Louisiana with proven high yield potential.

CLL17, an elite Clearfield variety bred in Louisiana, has proven its ability to make high yields, consistently outperforming CL153 in multi-year trials in the state. It also has solid ratoon crop potential and provides excellent milling yield and very good grain quality.

In three years of university testing, CLL17 averaged 6% higher yields than CL153. And in 59 trials throughout the Mid-South Rice Belt beginning in 2015, the variety averaged 7,841 pounds per acre for the main crop, compared to 7,155 pounds for CL111, 7,330 pounds for CL153 and 6,653 pounds for Cheniere, according to the LSU AgCenter data.

Gueydan, Louisiana farmer, Connor Popeck, is a believer in CLL17. "Nothing is perfect. We didn’t put it in one of those test plot fields where conditions are perfect. We put it in some challenging situations, and it was fantastic. It did exactly what it was supposed to do."

The varieties join other proven performers from Horizon Ag for the region, including:

• CLL16 – Broadly adapted elite Clearfield variety with excellent yield potential and milling characteristics, plus industry-leading blast resistance.

• CL151 – Proven high yielder that requires a lower nitrogen rate.

• CL153 – Widely-planted Clearfield variety with exceptional seeding vigor and yields equivalent to CL151. It has outstanding grain quality and provides resistance to blast.

• CL111 – Known for its excellent vigor, outstanding grain quality and milling and exceptional ratoon crop performance. It is Kellogg’s^® preferred long grain.

• CLL15 – An early-maturing variety with proven high yield potential, excellent milling quality and broad-spectrum blast resistance.

• CL163 – The first Clearfield variety with extra high amylose content, ideal for parboil, canning, food services or package rice.

• CLM04 – A medium-grain Clearfield variety with yield potential similar to Jupitar, but with improved blast resistance.

• CLJ01 – The first Clearfield Jasmine-type variety.

• PVL02 – Second release in the Provisia Rice System, providing improved yield potential and milling to PVL01, and superior cooking quality.
  

Clearfield^® and Provisia^® are registered trademarks of BASF.