Louisiana Rice: A Milestone Occasion

This is a big year for Louisiana’s Rice Research Station at Crowley. The facility, the nation's first research center devoted to rice, is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and the occasion will be marked by what is believed to be it’s 100th field day.

“It’s my understanding that the station held a field day that first year and, as near as we can tell, there has been a field day every year since then,” says Steve Linscombe, the station’s superintendent.

The station, like the rice industry itself, has come a long way in a century. A stream of new rice varieties have flowed from the station’s breeding program over the decades. In its recent history, the station has done pioneering work on herbicide-resistant rice varieties. Recently, it launched a hybrid rice project. It even has a webcam pointed toward a 6-acre block of rice, giving people all over the world a chance to see the crop develop.

The centennial will be celebrated on July 1 at the annual field day. Tours start at 7:30 a.m., and the main program gets underway at 10:30 a.m., with lunch following.