The LSU AgCenter hosted its annual Rice Field Day this week at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station offering farmers and students an inside look at the latest innovations in rice breeding, disease management, and production techniques. Among the highlights was the unveiling of Venus, a new medium-grain variety set for commercial release next year.
Attendees boarded a trailer tour, guided by AgCenter staff, making the first stop at the breeding project. Here, Director Adam Famoso discussed Venus and its potential impact on Louisiana’s rice industry.
“Venus is a new medium grain that was bred here at the rice research center by our medium grain rice breeder. It offers big advantages in yield and stability over the two widely grown medium grains that have been grown over the last 10 plus years.”
Famoso noted that Venus delivers approximately 10 % higher yield compared to existing varieties, while maintaining grain quality which is a key advantage for the predominantly domestic medium-grain market.
“A lot of our medium grain goes to Kellogg’s to make products like rice crispies. So Kellogg’s have very specific properties that they want that will work throughout their production process.”
The event also underscored the educational mission of Rice Field Day. LSU President Matt Lee stressed the importance of field-based learning for Ag students.
“It’s really important to get our students out here so they can see world class science and engineering in action … and be more productive and be more efficient in their own agricultural activities.”
Another focus of the day was disease pressure, particularly the role of temperature in disease development.
“A lot of warm temperatures … those are perfect conditions … when it’s too hot or when it’s too cold, the disease will not develop so the temperature is above 95 or 100 will stop the disease from developing.”
Dr. Felipe Dalla Lana addressed recent concerns about cercospora leaf spot and its emergence.
“More specifically cercospora being a concern. It was a disease that didn’t cause much problems a few years ago, but we saw a huge outbreak in 2022 and 2024 and we are really concerned about the weather for the disease this year.”
Dr. Felipe says as of now it's too early to predict how diseases will affect the rice season, but he should have a more definite answer in July.
