Living up to the billing New DG263L Dyna-Gro long grain impresses with strong yields and milling. By Vicky Boyd Editor
Put to the test Reidhar and Raun were two of hundreds of farmers who tried DG263L on about 80,000 acres’ worth of demonstration fields in 2021, said Randy Ouzts, Nutrien Ag Solution’s U.S. rice manager. Based on 2021 yield and milling results as well as grower interest, he said he should have plenty of seed to meet market demand this season.
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RICE FARMING
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JANUARY 2022
PHOTOS BY VICKY BOYD
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eff Reidhar, who farms rice near Des Arc, Arkansas, likes to explore his options as new varieties or technologies come out. When Dyna-Gro offered him a chance to plant 220 acres of its new DG263L long-grain variety in 2021, Reidhar didn’t hesitate. He was so impressed with the results that he plans to grow more this season. “It cut good. It threshed good using a stripper-header,” Reidhar said, adding it yielded 189 bushels per acre dry with milling of 59-71. “I was very pleased with the milling. My milling was the worst I’ve seen in 23 years of farming, and the Dyna-Gro was the best milling I had. That’s why it stood out in my mind.” He wasn’t the only grower pleased by the newcomer‘s performance. LG Raun, who farms near El Campo, Texas, said he planted a 109-acre field of DG263L to see whether it would help him diversify his varietal mix. “I’m locked into one variety, which I swore a long time ago I wouldn’t do,” he said. “I got down to one, and I’m searching for another variety. I want what the buyers want and will yield well and whether it’s economically feasible for my farming operation.” This past season, Raun’s DG263L field yielded 88 hundredweight per acre dry (194 bushels per acre) with a milling yield of 59/69 during the first harvest. His ratoon yield was 18 cwt per acre (about 40 bushels), and he’s waiting for his grade sheet.
Nutrien’s Randy Ouzts (right) and senior breeder Dr. Qiming “Doc” Shao check out some of their varieties in a trial at the LSU AgCenter’s H. Rouse Caffey Rice Experiment Station near Crowley, Louisiana.
Developed by Dr. Qiming “Doc” Shao, Nutrien’s senior U.S. rice breeder, DG263L is a high-yielding conventional long grain with a strong disease package and good milling yields. Yields harvested during 2021 ranged from about 185 to 190 bushels per acre dry to as high as 250 bushels per acre dry, Ouzts said. In University of Arkansas 2021 Commercial Rice Trials across 11 locations, DG263L averaged 223 bushels per acre, according to preliminary results. That compares to 202 bushels per acre for the Diamond variety and 236 bushels per acre for the hybrid RT 7301.
Milling yields for DG263L across the farm-scale demonstrations averaged 5669, which Ouzts considered good for what was a challenging year for grain quality in many areas. In the Arkansas commercial trials, the Dyna-Gro variety averaged 56-68 across 11 locations, while Diamond averaged 5770 and RT 7301 averaged 54-71. Ratoon challenges Lower-than-expected ratoon, or second-crop, yields were one of the few disappointments for Raun with the new variety. This past season, he shredded all his fields after the first harvest before RICEFARMING.COM
