Dry weather has not been conducive to foliar diseases in soybean this season.  While some diseases picked up some momentum under irrigation or in areas that finally received rains in July, levels range from nonexistent to moderate around the state.  Asian soybean rust has been identified primarily in the gulf area with the latest find in southeastern AR (Desha county) across the river from Greenville, MS. 

We do NOT have any type of spray recommendation out for rust at this time due to lack of disease in our vicinity but we will be monitoring fields up to harvest.  Fields most at risk this late in the season would be wheat beans growing in areas lucky enough to receive rain in August.  Fungicide applications with triazole containing products would be justified only if rust is found in Tennessee and beans are younger than R5.  Soybeans that are well into podfill are considered ‘safe’ and most fungicides have some sort of preharvest cutoff for the final application (Quilt Xcel should be applied before R6 or full seed, and Stratego products can be sprayed up to 21 days before harvest).

Soybean rust is not something we talk about a lot anymore, but it is a reality for soybean growers in the southeast.  UT extension has had an active soybean scouting program since 2005, sponsored by the TN Soybean Promotion Board that allows us to monitor crop progress and diseases at 12 locations throughout the state.  Early rust detection is the goal.  Information we collect is shared in a national website that tracks the progress of rust from the gulf and northward each year.  You can access the public website portion by going to http://sbr.ipmpipe.org to see where the latest finds are located.