The Plant Management Network (PMN) has posted items and links that provide useful information for all soybean producers. Two of those items are highlighted here.

In a blog on this website, I presented a summary of the effect of various diseases on yield of soybean in the midsouthern US states. This summary showed that sudden death syndrome (SDS) increased to major yield-limiting levels in 2013 and 2014, especially in Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. In a Mar. 2015 PMN webinar entitled “Soybean Death Syndrome Management Update”, Dr. Daren Mueller, Extension Field Crop Pathologist at Iowa State University, discusses symptoms of SDS and potential management options for its control.

It is interesting to note that early planting will complement using resistant varieties in reducing the negative effect of SDS on soybean yield in the Midwest states. Also, ILeVO seed treatment is labeled for the control of Fusarium virguliforme, the causal agent of SDS, and its use was associated with a significant reduction in yield loss in situations either with or without SDS foliar symptoms later in the season. This systemic seed treatment is also labeled for use on soybean as a protectant against damage caused by the soilborne nematodes (soybean cyst, root-knot, and reniform) that infest Midsouth soils. Be aware that this seed treatment is not labeled for the control of soil- and seed-borne fungi other than Fusarium virguliforme, so it should be used in addition to the seed treatments normally used only on sites known to be infested with potential yield-reducing levels of the SDS pathogen.

DuPont Pioneer has announced a new herbicide-tolerant trait in soybeans termed BOLT technology. Pioneer brand T series soybean with the Roundup Ready trait and BOLT technology in both MG IV and V varieties will allow producers in the Midsouth to apply DuPont Leadoff or Basis blend herbicides for weed burndown, and then immediately plant soybeans. This option was previously not available to soybean growers because of the required waiting period before planting either STS or non-STS soybeans following application of these herbicides. These two herbicides contain a blend of rimsulfuron (Resolve herbicide) and thifensulfuron (Harmony herbicide), which are both in the sulfonylurea chemical family and ALS-inhibitors (Group 2 herbicide). The broad spectrum of weeds controlled by these two herbicide blends, coupled with their site of action (Group 2) that is different from that of glyphosate (Group 9), should aid in resistance management that has become the cornerstone of recommended practices that should be used to delay or prevent the development of herbicide-resistant weeds.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Mar. 2015, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net