FUNDED BY THE ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION CHECKOFF PROGRAM.

SURVEYS

FREE SOYBEAN CYST NEMATODE SAMPLING OF SCN EGG COUNTS NOW AVAILABLE IN ILLINOIS

The Illinois Soybean Association is calling soybean farmers across the state to join the battle against Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) by providing free soil sampling to help track and research the largest yield robber. The University of Illinois has partnered with the Illinois Soybean Association to understand a baseline population of SCN within Illinois soybean fields.

Even though you may have tested for SCN in the past, populations may be increasing because SCN has learned how to adapt to the genetic source of resistance (PI 88788) that farmers have been using over the past 30 years. Gathering data from across the state is crucial to identify exactly where SCN is attacking and to quantify its impact on soybean crops. They anticipate this research could lead to new ways to overcome resistance in the field.

Click on “View PDF” below to access the free SCN form available on the U of I Plant Clinic website or request a kit below by emailing freeSCNtesting@illinois.edu and a free SCN kit with instructions and a prepaid shipping label will be sent to you. Allow the U of I Plant Clinic a few weeks to analyze your soil sample for SCN so that they can provide you with an accurate summary of results.

Read our Battle Against SCN blog for more information.

OTHER SURVEYS

All U.S farmers are invited to participate by sending in samples from your soybean harvest to help the U.S. Soybean Export Council conduct its International Marking programs on behalf of the Soybean Checkoff. This Annual Soybean Quality Survey is offered at no cost with postage provided, and most importantly, you will receive test results from your sample in mid-December.

All individual farmer test results obtained through this Annual Soybean Quality Survey will be kept confidential and only aggregate results are used in the survey Seed Quality Report conducted by Dr. Seth Naeve’s Lab at the University of Minnesota.

Contact Dr. Seth Naeve, Extension Soybean Agronomist and Professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, at naeve002@umn.edu or (612) 625-4298 for more details and to get your Soybean Quality Survey kit. Please return samples by October 23rd to ensure your location is represented in presentations to high-value U.S. customers at Buyers Conferences around the world.  This survey would not be possible without the financial support from United Soybean Board.

Read our Annual Soybean Quality Survey blog for more information.

Dr. Nick Seiter, Research Assistant Professor and Field Crops Entomologist at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his team will be conducting dectes stem borer counts in fields around Illinois as part of an ongoing investigation into soybean stem pests funded by the Illinois Soybean Association. Dr. Seiter’s group welcomes farmers and ag professionals who are in the field to conduct counts and contribute to the survey.

The sampling will begin in late September/early October around R7-R8 growth stages in soybeans. Additionally, they will conduct counts in stubble post-harvest for dectes larvae that made it to the base of the stem and could successfully overwinter.

If you are interested in participating in the dectes stem borer counts, download the protocol and survey sheet below. Send your completed survey sheets to Ashley Decker at alvance@illinois.edu and put “Illinois Dectes Survey” in the subject line of your email. You may print off the sheet to fill it out and send back a scanned copy or send your results in an Excel file. 

Read our Dectes Stem Borer Survey blog for more information and read about the results of the 2022 Illinois Dectes Stem Borer Survey conducted by Dr. Nick Seiter’s Lab at the University of Illinois.

Dr. Jason Bond, Professor of Plant Pathology at Southern Illinois University, and his team will be conducting a project to inform farmers of the most prevalent pathogens impacting soybean production fields across Illinois funded by the Illinois Soybean Association. By better understanding these pathogens and pests, university and Extension can help farmers identify management practices that may minimize the impact of these pathogens and pests on yield.

They are looking for farmers to submit diseased soybean stem and grain samples as part of their ISA funded Soybean Stem Pests research study. The sampling for soybean stem diseases can be done throughout the growing season, but most likely during the soybean reproductive growth stages.  Grain samples can be submitted after harvest.

If you are interested in submitting diseased soybean stem or grain samples, please click on the Stem Sample Protocol or Grain Sample Protocol below and fill out the form with your contact information and send to the specified address. If you would like a pre-paid shipping label and sample box to submit your diseased stem or grain samples to Southern Illinois University, contact Dr. Ahmad Fakhoury at amfakhou@siu.edu.

Financial support from the Illinois Soybean Association has provided the University of Illinois weed science program with the opportunity to survey Illinois waterhemp populations for resistance to Group 15 herbicides. They will make random waterhemp seed collections from fields across the state but invite you to become an active participant in their research project.

Waterhemp has evolved resistance to herbicides from more site-of-action groups than any other Illinois weed species, including resistance to Group 15 herbicides (products such as Dual II Magnum, Zidua, Warrant, Outlook, etc.). Soil-residual herbicides are components of an integrated weed management program that provide several benefits, including reducing the intensity of selection for resistance to foliar-applied herbicides.

If you would like to submit waterhemp samples for our upcoming greenhouse research project, please download this sample submission form below before you go to the field.

Read the Waterhemp Survey for Resistance to Group 15 Herbicides blog and view our video for more information on identifying and collecting waterhemp for this Waterhemp Survey.