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Scout for red crown rot
A plant pathologist is encouraging growers to scout for a new disease emerging in the Midwest when harvesting.
Marty Chilvers with Michigan State University tells Brownfield red crown rot was confirmed in Illinois and Indiana soybeans this year.
“Red crown rot looks a little like soybean sudden death syndrome, but as the name suggests, there’ll be some reddening on the lower stem,” he explains.
He says farmers should send infected soybeans for diagnostic testing if they come across suspect plants.
“There were some pretty alarming levels of disease in Illinois and Indiana—just areas of bare fields because of the disease just taking out plants,” he says.
Chilvers says Midwest researchers have started to collaborate on mitigation efforts before the disease potentially spreads to other regions.
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