A rice extension educator says the shift to earlier planted soybeans has impacted how rice and other crops are managed in Arkansas. Jarrod Hardke with the University of Arkansas says it narrows the planting window for all crops and can make weed control a challenge. “They’re very quickly up next to each other, emerged and just planted,” he says. “It’s starting to make it much more difficult to keep entire fields clean and minimize the impact on your own field, side-by-side, as well as potentially your neighbors.”
He tells Brownfield that earlier-planted soybeans don’t typically cause problems later in the growing season for crops like rice, but if drought sets in early – it can.
