In 2024 we had eight variety trial locations. Four locations were in what we refer to as warmer locations (north of Hwy 20) and four in the cooler locations (south of Hwy 20 and into the Sacramento Delta region). These trails are funded by the Rice Research Board and fulfill at least two purposes. First, they allow us to evaluate commercial varieties across the state in different environments. Second, we evaluate promising varieties being developed at the Rice Experiment Station to see how they respond across a wide range of environments. Below, I will briefly discuss what we found in terms of how the commercially available medium grains (M105, M206, M209, M210 and M211) performed across locations. Details of these trials can be found at the agronomy rice website here.
Overall, the number of days to heading in 2024 was shorter than normal. This can be attributed to a warm growing season (especially July) and later than normal planting dates. All of our trials in the Sacramento Valley were planted between May 13 and 25. Furthermore, across varieties and locations, yields were generally lower than we have seen in previous years. These lower yields were reflective of what was observed statewide.
In the warmer area north of Hwy 20, all varieties perform well; however, M211 tends to perform better followed by M209. This is what we saw in 2024, as well as what has been observed historically. Average yields (cwt/ac) for the past 5 years are 90.9 (M211), 89.4 (M209), 88.9 (M210), 87.0 (M105), 85.7 (M206). Importantly, as Dustin Harrell, Director, California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation brought up in the recent winter grower meetings, while M211 is higher yielding, its milling quality can be poor. This can result in M211 head rice yields that are less than other varieties. To help prevent this, M211 needs to be harvested at grain moisture contents close to 20% and being sure not to drain the field too early.
In the southern cooler areas, M209 does consistently poorly. M105 usually has the highest yields. However, M211 had the highest yields at two sites in 2024. One needs to be cautious here as 2024 was a warm year and cold nighttime temperatures during booting (which can cause blanking) was not a problem. The other consideration is that both M211 and M209 are longer duration varieties (heading 7-10 days later than M105). This can be a problem, especially in late planted fields. The 5-year average yield for all the medium grain varieties in the southern area is between 89 and 90 cwt/ac, except for M209 which is 86.2 cwt/ac.
