Published in Agron. J. 105:1860–1867 (2013) doi:10.2134/agronj2013.0238 Available freely online through the author-supported open access option. Copyright © 2013 by the American Society of Agronomy, 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. more than $2,400 per hectare over the last two production years (USDA, 2013b). The market value of a rice crop in any given year is determined by two factors: (i) rough rice yield per hectare and (ii) market price for rough rice received by producers at the time of crop sale. Rice yield per harvested hectare is influenced by a variety of factors including rice variety planted, rice production practices, incidence and degree of pests, weather during the growing season and harvest field conditions, as well as several other factors (Saichuk et al., 2012). The market price for rough rice received by rice producers is influenced by general rice market supply and demand conditions, which establish the general market price level for a given year. In addition, the quality of the rough rice harvested has the effect of adjusting the actual rough rice market price received above or below the general price level, depending on the specific quality parameters of alternative lots of rough rice sold. Several factors can influence the quality of milled rice which ultimately impacts the rough rice market price received by the producer. Some of these factors include milling yield (the percentage of whole and broken grains of milled rice per unit of rough rice), heat-damaged kernels, red rice, chalkiness, and color (USDA, 2009). Milling quality, in addition to total grain yield, has always been an important area of research in both rice variety development work as well as research into impacts of alternative rice production practices and input use on rice yield. Expected rice milling yield and yield component stability has been important crop variety characteristics evaluated in the release of new commercial rice cultivars (Blanche et al., 2011; Sha et al., 2006; Moldenhauer et al., 2007; Linscombe et al., 2000, 2006). Studies evaluating factors which impact rice milling yield have included cultivar and planting date (Blanche and Linscombe, 2009; Blanche et al., 2009; Sha and Linscombe, 2007; Sha et al., 2007), seeding and fertilization rate (Bond et al., 2008; Harrell and Blanche, 2010; Ottis and Talbert, 2005; Walker et al., 2006), high air temperatures (Liu et al., 2013), soil moisture management during the grain-filling AbstrACt Lodging of a rice (Oryza sativa L.) plant just before harvest can significantly impact the quality of the harvested crop yield as well as the market returns received for sale of the crop. The purpose of this study was to quantify the level and significance of lodging on the milling yield and market price of rough rice. A 2-yr study was conducted in the major rice-growing regions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to evaluate the impact of early and late lodging before harvest. The study included two rice planting dates and a range of rice varieties predominately grown in the regions. Results suggest that lodging does have a significant impact on milling yield, although impacts of planting date and time of lodging were not significant. Lodging was found to have a greater impact on whole grain (head rice) milling yield than total grain milling yield. Head rice yield reductions of 30.19 to 55.30 g kg–1 were observed. Although market price effects will vary with the general level of average rough rice market prices in a given year, results for the 2011 and 2012 crop years showed market price reductions of $0.0075 to $0.0119 per kg, due to crop lodging impacts on milling yield alone.