A new weed was found for the first time in California in a Butte County rice field towards the end of last year. The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed the new weed as being white water fire. Rice Farm Advisor Whitney Brim-Deforest said it could be the first discovery of the weed in the United States.
“We don’t, unfortunately, have a lot of information on that one right now except that it is there. We don’t have control information or anything for people, but we want to be on the lookout,” said Brim-Deforest. “We are working on that information; we just don’t have it yet.”
White water fire has an appearance similar to that of redstem, another common rice weed in California. So far, the issue has only been identified in the one site in Butte County. Brim-Deforest said she will be reviewing information on control approaches to put together potential solutions for California growers in the event the weed becomes an issue in other areas.
“It is found in other parts of the world. So maybe there’s information from other places as well on control. We just don’t have the current information for herbicides that are registered here in California,” Brim-Deforest noted. “But we are working on it.”
Listen to the report below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West