HorizonAg Field Day at Richard Family Farm in Kaplan
Jun 27, 2025
KAPLAN, CROWLEY, & BASILE, LA – Hundreds of growers and industry representatives took to rice fields around southwest Louisiana this week to hear the latest in research, crop assessment, acreage estimates, the impacts of recent wild weather, and more.
At the HorizonAg Field Day at the Richard Family Farm in Kaplan, the theme was collaboration and partnership. As Director of Sales Jason Satterfield said in opening remarks, “our success as a company is your success as growers.”
Attendees heard about the cercospera appearance that has been assisted in the area by weather seemingly tailormade for the fungus. There was also performance analysis of of CLL18, CLL19, PVL03 and PVL04, as well as getting a sneak peek at the promising PVL05 from guest speaker, Dr. Adam Famoso, rice breeder and director of the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter’s H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station.
Participants also heard from HorizonAg’s rice breeder, Dr. María Guadalupe Montiel, who is entering the second year of her work, and CEO Dr. Tim Walker who thanked attendees and reaffirmed that HorizonAg continues to grow as a company and leader and is committing great resources to the success of the U.S. rice industry.
“We are aware that there are challenges out there facing the industry, and we intend to be part of the solution,” he said.
The meeting was bookended by an indie rock concert by The Johnson Brothers Band (sons of Louisiana rice farmer Paul Johnson, plus a cousin).
The next day, up the road, the industry descended on the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station for the 116th Annual Rice Field Day, for an agenda filled with poster sessions, an exhibit area, a five-stop station field tour, formal remarks, and a lunch.
At the breeding station, Famoso shared yield results, milling qualities, and ratoon potentials for several long grain varieties, including a new advanced Clearfield long grain line that has demonstrated improved yield over CLL19 and similar yield as CLL18. It has significant improvements in chalk, milling, and ratoon potential. His colleague, Dr. Brijesh Angira, introduced Venus, a promising new medium grain variety that will add options to Jupiter, Titan, and Taurus.
The pathology, entomology, and weed stops were sobering in that all the areas of expertise saw significant challenges this year, largely due to weather, a lack of treatment options labeled for rice, and stubborn blast and stem borer strains. All the speakers, Drs. Felipe Dalla Lana and Camila Nicolli (pathology); Dr. Blake Wilson (entomology); and Dr. Connor Webster (weed science) did offer creative solutions to growers and urged growers to reach out to them quickly when they see a potential problem developing.
Rice Specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy shared interesting results of date of planting and early nitrogen applications, noting that the successful planting date is getting earlier and earlier in the area which not only helps with ratoon, but is in its own way, a precaution against insect pressure that tends to get stronger later in the season.
Famoso then welcomed attendees to the speakers program where the crowd was addressed by Dr. John Dennison, chair of the Louisiana Rice Research Board; Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Mike Strain; Louisiana Farm Bureau President and rice farmer Richard Fontentot; USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann; The Rice Foundation’s Dr. Steve Linscombe; Dean of the College of Agriculture Dr. Mike Salassi; and Associate Vice President Dr. Tara Smith. All the speakers praised the work going on at the station, many remarking that it was the premier rice research station in the country, if not the world.
Notably in the audience was LSU interim President Dr. Matt Lee who thanked attendees, researchers, speakers, and sponsors. Lee is no stranger to the research station, having served as vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture until being named to his new post. Lee said LSU is committed to Louisiana solutions with global impact, adding, “When we’re winning for LSU, we’re winning for all of Louisiana.”
The following day, growers gathered in Basile for the RiceTec field day to hear updates on the company’s FullPage™ and Max-Ace™ solutions as well as conventional varieties. Company reps also shared the organization’s new quality program with a renewed focus on customers and transparency.
U.S. Marketing Manager Garrison Hardke added his thoughts on the weather’s impact on mid-south rice production as well as providing a preview of the company’s new customer mobile app RiceReach and website Rice.Solutions.
ADAMA’s Jason Meier dove deep into a two-state, multi-site injury and yield study of their Highcard™ solution and addressed grower concerns about using a safener with the product.
The program rounded out with a detailed presentation from LSU Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics Dr. Michael Deliberto on rice production, supply, demand, the global trade flow of rice, how anticipated acreage reductions in Arkansas could affect farm gate prices and the futures market, and the share of world markets that the U.S. rice industry has and what it could look like going forward.
“I appreciate the opportunity for me and some of our staff to participate in these field day events,” said Bachmann. “It’s good to get out of Washington and spend time with our members who provide us with important feedback and always generously share their knowledge, pain points, and wishes for our work going forward.”
Bachmann and his USA Rice colleagues COO Sarah Moran, Vice President of Communications & Strategic Development Michael Klein, and Field Services Director Kane Webb also gave presentations at the annual Louisiana Promotion Board meeting while Linscombe was included on the agenda at the Louisiana Research Board meeting.