It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and Dr. Heather Kelly is sharing the gift of free screenings for soil borne pathogens. It’s a great value, and it’s not too late to participate. Listen for details.
The fungus Macrophomina phaseolina is a soil-borne pathogen that infects nearly 500 species of plants including soybean, cotton, and corn and causes the disease charcoal rot. What does this mean for West Tennessee farmers? Continue reading
The last two weeks we’ve published articles highlighting the free soil testing for 2018, which is screening for the ‘silent yield robbers’: pathogenic nematodes and charcoal rot. This article gives a brief description on how pathogenic nematodes differ – their effect on yield and different management options. Continue reading
Last week’s article discussed soilborne pathogens as ‘silent yield robbers’ of crops in production fields and the importance of screening. This article elaborates on two of the most common pathogens found in soybean fields, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and charcoal rot, and presents the results from our 2017 soil screening. Continue reading
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to have your soil tested for parasitic nematodes and charcoal rot at no cost for Tennessee Farmers ($15 fee for out-of-state samples). Continue reading
Taproot decline (TRD) is a new disease to us in Tennessee and other states in the Southeast. A member of the genus (Xylaria) was first isolated from soybean in Ethiopia in the ‘70s , however researchers at that time did not confirm if this fungus was the pathogenic species that is now affecting soybeans across the southeastern US. The first report of taproot decline as a pathogen of soybean was published just last year, with sightings of this disease first occurring in 2007. Other states that have reported cases of TRD include Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri with an increasingly northern range. A production field in Saulsbury (Hardeman County) was confirmed to have soybeans affected by TRD in August 2017, and two additional research fields in Gibson and Madison counties were confirmed in August 2018. Foliar symptoms were initially spotted at growth stage R6 (i.e. full seed); these foliar symptoms can easily be confused with those due to other diseases like sudden death syndrome and stem canker, and closer observation is needed for disease Continue reading
With symptoms of disease showing up in soybean fields, Dr. Heather Kelly’s phone has been hot. In our latest Call of the Week podcast, Continue reading
Wondering what’s been making your soybeans sickly? Come to The University of Tennessee Soybean Disease Field Day, held Tuesday, Sept. 4th, at the Milan Research and Education Center. Registration will be from 8:30-9:00 AM with the tour beginning at 9 AM and concluding with a box lunch. Preregistration is not required. Pesticide re-certification and CCA points will be available. Field demonstrations will include soybean disease identification, UT variety trials, fungicide efficacy trials and other UT disease research trials. Hands on disease identification will cover main soybean diseases that occur in Tennessee including frogeye leaf spot, target spot, Cercospora leaf blight, southern stem canker, sudden death syndrome, and others.