An emerging soybean disease in the Midwest is requiring growers to be more vigilant when scouting.
Red crown rot has not yet been confirmed in Michigan, but Michigan State plant pathologist Marty Chilvers says that it’s probably already here and growers just don’t know it- more on why in a moment.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done about red crown rot for your soybeans this year. A seed treatment would have been the deterrent, but it’s still important to scout and know if it’s in your field. Dr. Darcy Telenko, a plant pathologist at Purdue University, says that’s easier said than done.
“The problem is it mimics three other diseases. It has the same foliar symptomology as our Sudden Death Syndrome, SDS. It could also mimic Brown Stem Rot. So, it’s important when that time frame comes, end of July to early August, and you start seeing those little areas that are turning yellow, your crop is not maturing, there’s something going on. Get out and look at it. Maybe you diagnosed SDS 10 years ago and it came back today but go out and, that’s my big push, go out and check them, make sure it hasn’t changed to something else.”
If you suspect red crown rot, a sample can be sent to Michigan State for confirmation. Information on how to submit your sample can be found by visiting the MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics website.
Once red crown rot is confirmed, Telenko says you will want to harvest that field last to reduce the spread of the fungus to a new field.
“We do have some research going on to try to see what the combines are moving and where is the pathogen surviving. Is it in the soil? Is it in the stubble? Is it in the debris? Are we blowing it out of the back of the combine in the dust? We’ve been running some pretty interesting trials this last year. I followed some fields, so we’ll be looking for that again.”
Telenko recommends growers utilize resources from the Crop Protection Network.
