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URBANDALE,
Iowa - As Iowa soybean growers finish harvesting the
2007 crop, Iowa State University has been scouting late planted
fields for signs of Asian Soybean Rust. And they've found it in
14 counties across the state.
Asian soybean rust has been confirmed in 2007 in Adair, Dallas,
Des Moines, Fremont, Hancock, Iowa, Johnson, Lee, Muscatine, Polk,
Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Story and Washington counties. Although
the development of rust in Iowa fields happened too late in the
growing season to cause any real damage, it is a significant discovery
for soybean producers.
“Discovering soybean rust in multiple counties clearly indicates
that the disease reached northern production regions. Data suggest
that the spores reached southwestern Iowa as early as August this
year,” says X.B. Yang, plant pathologist, Iowa State University.
The discovery of rust in Iowa this year was no great surprise
to some. Checkoff-funded research conducted at Iowa State University
predicted the possibility. Dr. X. B. Yang has been refining a
weather-based computer model to track the movement of rust spores
from known infected locations and predicts where the disease may
develop based on climate conditions. Iowa State University leads
the field in these efforts.
August rains are the likely culprit that sprinkled rust spores
over Iowa soybean fields. When discovered, the disease was in
its very earliest stages of development in most fields with the
exception of Fremont County where disease development had progressed
to 20 percent incidence.
Those scouting for the disease are individuals from the Iowa Soybean
Rust Team First Detectors, a group of 700 highly qualified crop
professionals trained to identify the disease by Iowa State University
through a partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA).
Iowa State University and the soybean checkoff began training
First Detectors during the summer of 2004, before rust was found
in the United States. “Soybean producers need to continue
to be vigilant and manage their soybean crop to optimize yield
and profitability,” says David Wright, director of contract
research, Iowa Soybean Association. “Producers should increase
the management of their soybean crop through increased scouting
efforts.”
Online resources for soybean growers include www.sbrusa.net, www.planthealth.info,
www.soybeanrust.info and www.iasoybeans.com.
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