Soybean Rust Update

August 6, 2015

from Jim Dunphy, Extension Crop Science Specialist (Soybeans)

Asiatic Soybean Rust was confirmed on soybeans in a sentinel plot in Amite County, Mississippi earlier today.  Earlier, rust had been confirmed on soybeans in Hidalgo County, Texas, and Gadsden County, Florida so far this year.  The Mississippi rust is approximately 455 miles from Murphy, the Texas rust is more than 1,000 miles from any NC soybeans, and the Florida rust is approximately 315 miles from Murphy, 390 miles from Charlotte, and more than 400 miles from Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Raleigh, Washington, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem.

Rust has also been confirmed on kudzu in Louisiana and Florida.

I do not consider these confirmations to signal any imminent threat to NC soybeans.  I still consider Steve Koenning’s (recently retired Extension Plant Pathologist) and my recommendation to not spray soybeans that have not yet bloomed, nor blooming soybeans that are more than 100 miles from confirmed presence of rust on soybeans, to be a valid recommendation.

The current status of rust in the continental US can be found anytime at http://sbr.ipmpipe.org.