UC Rice Blog

Whitney Brim-DeForest is the newest addition to the UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor rice team. She will be based out of the Sutter-Yuba Office, but will serve Placer and Sacramento counties as well. She holds a Ph.D. in Horticulture and Agronomy and an M.S.

Do you think you have a good looking field of rice? Do you wonder how it might stack up against other fields? Well then join the 2016 UCCE Rice Yield Contest. This year we are expanding Yield Contest from Butte County to the whole Sacramento Valley.

Before the weekend I got reports of two fields where defoliation was over threshold and worms were big. As predicted, we are now seeing armyworms at fifth and sixth instar. These are the worms that will cause noticeable defoliation. The timing of infestation is similar to last year's.

In the past week, many growers and PCAs have identified fields infested with armyworms. The size of these worms is small, ranging from first to third instars. The amount of defoliation they cause at these stages is small.

Earlier this week, I received reports of two fields near Willows that showed evidence of armyworm feeding and very small worms in the plants. Today, I sampled a field that had some severe armyworm affected areas last year. At first sight, there was no evidence of injury.