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Iron chlorosis a problem in Red River Valley soybeans
Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota
An agronomist in the Upper Midwest is seeing iron chlorosis (IDC) in soybeans and says strong corn yields a year ago are probably the reason.
Adam Spelhaug with Peterson Farms Seed tells Brownfield the Red River Valley is experiencing one of its worst years for iron deficiency.
“We had a lot of mineralization, especially on corn ground. I think we’ve got a lot of carry-over nitrates from that corn ground, and high nitrates a lot of times will lead to IDC.”
The primary symptom of iron deficiency is interveinal chlorosis—the development of a distinctive yellow leaf with a network of dark green veins.
Spelhaug says rain following a dry period that stretched from the end of May through the first part of June could have caused more harm than good.
“We got an inch or so of rain in a lot of those areas, which freed up some of the salt to attack those small roots on those soybeans at that critical stage. So I think it was kind of a perfect storm. But I think this is probably one of they yellower years we’ve seen.”
Iron chlorosis can significantly reduce yield, and Spelhaug says soybean growers dealing with IDC can use a foliar micronutrient like Soygreen.
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