2900 Highway 130 East
Stuttgart, Arkansas 72160
Alton Johnson
Director
Phone: 870-673-0109
Fax: 870-673-4315
Email: altonj@uark.edu
Research Locations
Research Focus
The Center’s mission is to investigate, validate and disseminate the best practices for sustainable rice production for Arkansas farmers. The research conducted at the RREC is primarily field-oriented, problem-solving, and applied. Rice breeding efforts for cultivar development are aided by DNA marker-assisted analysis to identify traits associated with rice blast resistance genes, cooking quality, plant height, bran color, leaf texture, aroma, male sterility, fertility restoration, and herbicide tolerance. While rice is the core of the Center’s activity, the RREC is also the site for important research on soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, and wheat. Research and extension initiatives are determined by the needs of the Arkansas agricultural industry. The scientists work as a team to conduct research to meet those needs. Funding for RREC programs is derived from state and federal funds, commodity board check-off funds, and private industry grants, contracts and donations.
About RREC
Facts
- Encompasses 1022 acres in Arkansas County located 7 miles East of Stuttgart on State Highway 130
- 732 tillable acres and a 108-acre reservoir & canal system and one deep well
- The soil texture is silt loam and comprised almost entirely of the Dewitt series
- 600 acres in precision-graded fields for research and seed production
- Home to the Arkansas County Extension Agent Branch Office
History
The Rice Research & Extension Center is one of the best regarded and oldest rice research centers in the world. In 1923, the Arkansas General Assembly authorized the creation of the Rice Branch Experiment Station (Acts 1923, No. 753, Sections 1-3) in the “center of rice production” to be on soils fairly representative of soils where rice is grown in the state and with the general mandate to investigate “problems of rice farmers, including rice production, rice varieties, soils, and soil management, irrigation, rotation, other crops for the rice farmer, livestock and poultry for the rice region, and the fruits and truck crops adapted to such system of farming together with the economic problems of the farmers of that region.”
With funding provided in 1925, a 160-acre commercial rice farm between Stuttgart and Almyra was purchased that was “typical of the majority of the rice-growing soils of Arkansas,” and work started at the new station on Dec. 13, 1926. The land was originally prairie sod, which had been in rice production since 1908. It had “fallen heir to many if not all the pests that bring grief to the rice farmer, but this fact only affords the greater opportunity for service.”
As one of the only research stations in the U.S.at the time devoted to rice, and having the benefit of being located on one of the best-paved roads in the state, the Rice Branch Experiment Station was almost immediately a destination for scientists, Extension agents, and farmers from around the country. Five major challenges of rice growing were initially studied: the rate of seeding, the date of seeding, the quality of varieties, control of grasses, and efficacy of fertilizers. In addition, studies were made of some of the worst insect and plant disease enemies of the rice crop. By 1929, the station included new office and laboratory spaces and a director’s residence.
Since 1930, the center has hosted research in plant breeding, agronomy, soil science, pathology, entomology, physiology, and economics. The 1940s saw the station triple in size, while the 1950s saw the addition of the foundation seed plant. In the 1960s, the station grew to 915 acres. In the 1970s, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture greatly improved the overall research facilities, and in 1981 the station was renamed the Rice Research & Extension Center to reflect its expanded mission.In 2010, a state-of-the-art research and administration complex was dedicated and currently anchors the world-renowned center. In 2016, the new foundation seed facility was opened, and in 2018 the center brought online a new greenhouse and growth chamber facility dedicated to the research of high nighttime temperature tolerance and hybrid breeding. Today, the RREC remains the second-largest center (staffing and facilities) within the Division of Agriculture.
Faculty and Staff
Employees at the Rice Research and Extension Center include the station director, farm manager, foundation seed director, 8 faculty, 3 administrative support staff, 26 full-time research specialists, associates and technicians, 3 post-doctoral research associates, 3 full-time farm employees, 35 part-time employees, and 6 graduate students.
Facilities
RREC Main Building
- 16,616 sq. ft. of laboratory space
- 350-seat conference center and kitchen
Foundation Seed Processing Facility
- Seed processing facility with a 5,720 sq. ft. warehouse, 25,000 bushel grain storage, 200 sq. ft. cold storage, and office and meeting room space
Please contact Alton Johnson for more information about renting RREC facilities. A completed RREC Facility Use Agreement will be required as part of the rental process.
Departments
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
The Irrigation Team explores the interaction of irrigation with agronomic production practices with the main focus on improving irrigation efficiency and management, utilizing 50 acres at the RREC. The team manages and conducts research and delivers Extension programming on all irrigated crops. The Team also adapts existing technology such as soil moisture sensors, computerized hole selection and surge irrigation to Arkansas crops. In addition, the Team develops new technology for furrow and flood (surface) irrigation. Technology such as the pit-less pump for furrow irrigated rice is an example of how new irrigation technology is now reaching the farm. The team hosts the Arkansas Most Crop per Drop irrigation contest, conducts irrigation schools, maintains the Rice Irrigation mobile app for designing multiple inlet rice irrigation, and maintains the Arkansas Soil Sensor (Watermark) calculator mobile app to aid in decision making of sensor readings in corn, soybeans, and furrow irrigated rice.
Lead Faculty: Christopher Henry
Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
The CSES utilizes about 200 acres at the RREC where four faculty (project leaders) conduct research leading to the breeding of long- and medium-grain, and aromatic rice; expanding our understanding of rice agronomy; solving problems in weed science as they relate to agronomic crops; and soybean breeding. Another 120 acres are used for rice and soybean variety testing.
Entomology and Plant Pathology
At the Rice Research and Extension Center, faculty (project leaders) from the Departments of Entomology and Plant Pathology target plant improvement, insect and pathogen control research on 20 acres.
The Rice Agronomy Team is responsible for the development of production recommendations for rice in Arkansas. The Team’s efforts focus on rice cultivar performance via the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials, new variety development via the Arkansas Rice Variety Advancement Trials, agronomic and cultural practices including seeding rate and plant development, fertility management including nitrogen rates and timing, and integrated pest management practices including seed treatments and cultivar tolerance. The Team also maintains the DD50 Rice Management Program and supports the Rice Research Verification Program. These applied research efforts provide research-based information to develop and improve rice production recommendations and support publications such as the Arkansas Rice Production Handbook, the Arkansas Rice Management Guide, Arkansas Rice Advisor, and the DD50 Program.
Lead Faculty: Jarrod Hardke
Rice Breeding Program is an integration of projects including long-grain breeding, medium-grain breeding, aromatic rice breeding, Puerto Rico winter nursery, Arkansas rice variety advancement trials, rice breeding pathology support, quality analysis for rice breeding and genetics, high nighttime temperature, and Foundation Seed. Our mission is to provide rice growers in Arkansas and the US Mid-South with competitive rice varieties that offer improved grain yields, good and stable milling yields, improved grain quality, excellent disease package, and herbicide tolerance traits for effective weedy rice and weed control. The development and on-time release of such cultivars will advance productivity, sustainability, profitability, and long-term growth prospects for both farmers and the rice industry.
Lead Faculty: Christian De Guzman and Xueyen Sha
The Arkansas Soybean Breeding program develops and releases conventional and herbicide-resistant soybean cultivars tailored to the needs of Arkansas growers. Activities include the development of high-yielding commodity and specialty soybean varieties, conducting research on genetic tolerance to yield-limiting biotic and abiotic stressors, improved seed composition, and novel breeding methodologies, and mentoring and training undergraduate and graduate students in the art and science of plant breeding.
Lead Faculty: Caio Vieira
The Weed Science Team is responsible for developing weed management recommendations and solutions for the Arkansas rice farmer. Current efforts focus on understanding the fit of new herbicides in rice, establishing crop tolerance to these herbicides, gaining a thorough understanding of the weed spectrum controlled under a range of rice-growing conditions, and determining the risk for carryover or drift to adjacent crops. Research is conducted at multiple sites across the state, with a predominant focus on barnyard grass in many of these trials. The Team utilizes its research sites across the state to quickly implement studies as new questions from growers arise each year. Research from these trials is instrumental in providing yearly updates for the rice section in the MP44 (Recommended Chemicals for Weed and Brush Control).
Lead Faculty: Jason Norsworthy
The Extension Entomology Team, based at the Rice Research and Extension Center, works on improving integrated pest management in rice with respect to insects. The Team is currently working on developing a new threshold using a sweep net for rice water weevils, defining defoliation thresholds in both pureline and hybrid rice, and development of best management practices for pyrethroid resistant rice stink bug. The Team is also evaluating many current and new insecticides. On a yearly basis the Team evaluates the economic benefits of insecticide seed treatments, insecticide seed treatment combinations, and foliar insecticides for rice water weevil, rice stink bug, and many occasional pests (fall armyworm, chinch bugs, etc.).
Lead Faculty: Nick Bateman
This comprehensive Plant Pathology research and extension program is dedicated to advancing agricultural practices for rice. The work includes monitoring fungicide resistance in rice sheath blight to enhance management strategies and reduce yield losses, integrating host resistance with fungicides to control Cercospora in rice, and assessing the prevalence and stability of host resistance to rice blast races in Arkansas.
Lead Faculty: Camila Nicolli
Location
2900 Highway 130 East
Stuttgart, Arkansas 72160
Contact
Alton Johnson
Director
Phone: 870-673-0109
Fax: 870-673-4315
Email: altonj@uark.edu