Disease Management: White Mold: How to Prepare for Wars on Spores
Strong soybean disease management, including timely scouting when flowers first appear (R1), will be critical for soybean farmers this growing season as they grapple with increasingly prevalent soybean white mold in the Midwest. Compared to previous years, white mold—or Sclerotinia Stem rot—was more common in 2015 and surfaced in many farm fields to some degree. Historically, soybean fields in Northern Illinois have been hardest hit by the destructive disease because that area has more of the cool, wet weather that promotes fungal growth than does the southern part of the state. Timing is everything when it comes to white [...]
Minimizing In-season Yield Loss
Summer is a season of fun; but for soybean plants, summer can be anything but pleasant. July and August often bring a variety of serious stresses, including water challenges (too much or, more often, too little), excessive heat, and disease and insect pressure. Though these stresses can and do lead to yield loss, there are things you can do in-season to help mitigate the situation. Here are a few ideas to help minimize in-season yield loss. 4 steps to minimizing in-season yield loss 1. Use in-season imagery to identify stressed areas. 2. Dig up some roots; take soil samples. [...]
Agronomics: Continuous Soybean Management Considerations
There are some farmers who are considering growing more soybeans next year and may have some continuous soybean rotations. There are a few management considerations to think about as you make your seed purchases for next year: Don’t plant the same variety in the same field. Even if it ends up being your top yielding variety in 2014. Each variety is susceptible to some disease. It could be brown stem rot, white mold, Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), phytophthora, downy mildew, charcoal rot, or a host of other diseases. If you plant the same variety, the risk of having that [...]
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