Duane Dailey
Senior Writer
573-882-9181
DaileyD@missouri.edu
April 14, 2005
MU agronomists join early-warning network
to find, report Asian soybean rust outbreaks
Specialists in 22 counties across the state will scout soybean fields, starting when the crop emerges from the ground, said Bill Wiebold, MU soybean specialist.
Missouri reports will be fed into a national network maintained by USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Growers can see the results posted on the Internet at http://www.sbrusa.net.
Rust outbreak reports also will be sent by e-mail to all county extension centers. “Local offices will have the news as soon as we know it,” Wiebold said. MU Extension also will send rust reports to the media to alert growers.
Agronomists are working with cooperating growers who planted their soybean crop early, said Wiebold. Specialists will scout specific fields weekly until reports of outbreaks in adjoining states begin to appear. Those soybean fields are located from the Bootheel in the southeast to Holt County, north of St. Joseph, Mo.
"We expect to receive advance warning from states to the south," Wiebold said. "Then we’ll switch to a three-times-per-week schedule as risk increases."
MU specialists attended training last winter in scouting and identification.
The first rust fungus pustules on soybean leaves are almost microscopic. Rust usually appears on lower leaves in a dense canopy of leaves. However, in Brazil, where the disease is widespread, rust has been detected on seedlings.
Soybean rust has been found in three counties in Florida this year. All of those cases are on kudzu, a weedy vine that lives throughout the winter. No Asian rust has been found in soybean plots, yet.
Rust spores, which survive only on living tissue, are dispersed widely on the wind.
Asian soybean rust has caused heavy crop loss in South American countries and was first detected in the United States last fall in Louisiana. Scientists believe the spores were blown here by 2004 hurricanes.
MU scientists at the Delta Center near Portageville, Mo., found Asian rust on soybean leaves collected in the Bootheel just before the first freeze last fall.
Farmers have attended many rust-related meetings during the winter to prepare for the 2005 season, Wiebold said. An early warning will allow producers to spray fungicide on their crop. A quick response is essential.
After each scouting trip, agronomists will report by e-mail to state and federal monitors. The national map on the APHIS web site will show, in green, counties where fields were scouted but nothing was found. Counties where rust disease is confirmed will be marked in red.
Source: Bill Wiebold (573) 882-0621
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