Wrap Up Of 2025 Ratoon Rice Crop
TYLER MUSGROVE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
As we close out the 2025 rice season, ratoon crop harvest has been recently completed across southwest Louisiana. With record low commodity prices and novel pest challenges, the value of the second crop is vital for producers to cross the finish line. Overall, ratoon production remains a valuable option for growers, especially when paired with crawfish operations. Many producers continue to leverage the dual-income potential of rice and crawfish, though management decisions can vary widely by parish. Based on research conducted by scientists at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station, harvesting the second crop can potentially harmonize well with the transition into crawfish season and maximize profitability in the rice/crawfish rotation. However, we did receive reports of some producers (accounting for ≈20% of ratoon acres) choosing to abandon harvesting the second crop and begin crawfish operations early due to low commodity prices and logistical constraints. The yield potential of these acres was likely on the poorer side, which encouraged the decision to abandon. Historically, ratoon yields average a third of the main crop, though this varies by management and environmental conditions. This year, yields were modest to exceptional with some parishes producing in the high 20’s (bbl). Across southwest Louisiana, average yields were 15–18 barrels with around 60-70% of the total rice acreage being second cropped.
The success of second cropping is largely dependent on input costs and timing of main crop harvest. What makes the ratoon crop favorable is that many input costs are shared with the main crop. However, there are unique challenges that add to expenses. Early on, expectations for pest management focused on stem borers as previous years have seen seed treatment failures coupled with high pest populations. However, this year was fortunately quiet on the stem borer front and fewer applications of Vantacor went out than we expected, saving money on insect management.
Despite concerns earlier in the season, the rice delphacid did not significantly impact ratoon yields in Louisiana, although several producers reported high populations at harvest. We’ve received pictures showing thousands of delphacids covering the header. Much is unknown about how yield is impacted, but it’s likely damage was limited by how late the insects arrived in some fields. Although the majority of rice in south Louisiana was infested, populations remained low, and we credit the work of beneficial insects for keeping delphacids at bay. It appears we dodged a bullet this year
considering greater than 30% of the ratoon crop just in west Texas was destroyed by the insect.
Additionally, there is growing concern about whether delphacids can overwinter in Louisiana. With the prevalence of rice forage for crawfish (whether green rice or ratoon stubble) across the region, the concept of the “green bridge” comes to mind and we shouldn’t put delphacid monitoring on the back burner. For this reason, I scouted several fields (Dec. 5th) in central and south Louisiana where we had high populations reported earlier in the year. Unfortunately, I did find adults and nymphs in low numbers, which is troubling after we recently had several nights in the low 30’s (Figure 1). These fields will continue to be monitored throughout the winter, and I am hopeful that future freezes will work to our benefit. No control measures are recommended where crawfish are present, but vigilance is key as we move into 2026.
With input costs rising and pest dynamics evolving, growers should weigh the benefits of ratoon rice carefully. For those considering ratoon production, timely main crop harvest and proactive management remain the foundation for success.
TYLER MUSGROVE
LSU AGCENTER