May 5, 2010

US to monitor soy for rust development

Plant pathologists and soy producers in the southern US will be monitoring soy rust sentinel plots for significant developments, providing northern states an early alert to potential problems.

Currently, virtually no soy rust has been detected in the US. There are confirmed cases in Mexico that can spread north, but overall, cases in the south are very low. This is due to a record-setting cold winter in the south which frosted back kudzu, the overwintering host plant for the disease.

Soy rust sentinel plots have been established in many Gulf Coast states, the primary region for soy rust monitoring in 2010. Throughout these states kudzu is actively growing and being monitored.

Nebraska, for the 2010 season will no longer have soy rust sentinel plots, says Loren Giesler, University of Nebraska plant pathologist.

"Our plan is to use research plots scattered across the eastern third of the state as indicators of potential soy rust development in Nebraska," he says. "We also have discontinued our soy rust phone hotline as a result of limited disease development over the past five years."

Giesler adds, "Even though we have reduced US monitoring efforts, I encourage you to stay aware of where soy rust is by using the national Soy Rust monitoring website.