July 31, 2007

Soybean rust hits eight US states

Fifty-one counties in eight states of the US South and Southwest has been hit by plant disease soybean rust this year, according to US Agriculture Department (USDA).

Over the weekend, soybean rust has occurred in soybean fields in Bowie and Red River counties in Texas and in a sentinel plot near Hope, in southwest Arkansas.

USDA said rust was confirmed in 20 counties in Texas, 10 in Florida, six in Louisiana, five in Alabama, five in Georgia, two in Arkansas, two in Oklahoma and one in Mississippi.

At this point in 2006, rust had been confirmed in 27 counties in six states. At the end of the year, the total was 274 counties in 15 states, including major soybean-growing states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.