most important for soybean crop health, MU specialist says
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Years of research have convinced Allen Wrather that the best way to manage diseases in soybeans is to plant resistant varieties — and that a producer’s most effective tools might be his feet and eyes.
“We have tested crop rotation, tillage methods, planting dates, resistant varieties and agricultural chemicals here and in north Missouri,” said Wrather, plant pathologist and plant microbiologist at University of Missouri Delta Research Center in Portageville. “Our conclusion is that crop rotation and fungicide seed treatments are useful, but the best method for management of soybean diseases is to plant resistant varieties.”
Wrather, who works with Delta research specialist Ben Kellams and senior research technician Joyce Elrod, will present the results of the team’s experiments at the Delta Center Field Day on Friday, Aug. 30.
Although variety selection has proved to be “the best of the best” management techniques for soybean crop health, “unfortunately, no one variety has resistance to all diseases,” Wrather said. And while it’s impossible to predict precisely what diseases will strike, “diseases that damaged soybean in a field this year will probably damage the soybean crop there next year or the year after. The only way to know if diseases damaged soybean is by scouting each field each year.”
Scouting allows a producer to determine whether yield losses are attributable to disease or to some other factor such as nutrient deficiency, Wrather said. “Then, action can be taken to eliminate or reduce the effects of these factors on future soybean crops.”
The Field Day at Delta Center Lee Farm starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. The farm, located off Interstate 55, is 8 miles southeast of Portageville at the intersection of highways T and TT.
Research tours and industry information booths highlight the field day. There will be five tours covering cotton production, irrigation, integrated crop management, soybean production and weed management. More than 50 industry displays will be available in Rone Hall at the farm.