Disease Management

Soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) causes more soybean yield loss in Illinois when compared to any other pathogen. For example, in 2021 alone, losses attributed to SCN were estimated at over 14 million bushels, valued at over $185 million.

In her latest blog, Soy Envoy Chelsea Harbach walks us through the three possible outcomes of an interaction between cover crops and SCN.

Dig Now to Root Out Soybean Yield Robber SCN

Soy Envoy Weston Olsen walks us through the ins and outs of foliar fungicide timing decisions.

Understanding the difference between soybean cyst nematode-resistant varieties may help soybean growers understand the importance of rotating sources of resistance, which is one of the “active SCN management” strategies advised by The SCN Coalition.

Soy Envoy Chelsea Harbach tells us a cautionary tale about fungicide resistance management in her latest ILSoyAdvisor blog.

Since Red Crown Rot was first confirmed, efforts to monitor the disease in Illinois have resulted in maps of occurrence from 2018 to 2021.

In 2018 I received some images on my cell phone. These images were of red crown rot, a soybean disease I had encountered while I was the field crop pathologist at the University of Delaware. The images clearly showed distinctive brick red, pinhead sized “balls” aggregated on the lower stems of the plant.

As I drove around Southern IL this summer, I noticed a lot of fields that have areas in them that were showing the symptomology of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN). Often these spots are stunted, yellow and just generally not in good health. Now, there are a lot of reasons for soybeans to show this symptomology, and very likely not every one of these spots were SCN, but SCN counts have been on the rise over the last few years and now is a great time to be testing for the pest. SCN, like all nematode species, is an unsegmented [...]

As the growing season progresses and we near harvest, Illinois soybean growers often see increased disease symptomology in their fields. They may wonder what can be done to combat diseases once symptoms appear, but with some pathogens the infection occurs many weeks prior to the onset of visible signs of disease. Once the infection is apparent, it is often too late for effective control. The best-known illustration of this is Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), but white mold is another example. Figure 1 shows very early symptoms of the disease appearing in the upper canopy. Although it may be too [...]