DATE: 8/15/05

CONTACT: Dr. John Mueller, (803) 284-3343, ext. 223

WRITER: Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343, ext. 241

Soybean rust is identified in HamptonCounty field

BLACKVILLE – Asian soybean rust disease has finally stuck its foot in the door in South Carolina.

“It’s not a cause for panic, since it is at very low levels, doing very little damage and not producing enough spores to immediately threaten nearby fields,” said John Mueller, nematologist at Clemson University’s Edisto Research and Education Center.

The disease was confirmed Monday afternoon in a sample collected last week from a commercial field in Hampton County by Tommy Walker, local Clemson Extension agent.

“The sample was allowed to incubate for two days prior to examination on Saturday and then sent to the Plant Problem Clinic at Clemson Monday morning for confirmation by Meg Williamson, clinic director,” he said. Confirmations were based on visual identification of the pustule and spores characteristic of Asian soybean rust.

Mueller said that Clemson University experts advise growers to be concerned primarily with soybeans that are at or past flowering. Rust has not been detected so far in soybeans in the pre-flowering vegetative stage of growth.

“Growers in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton, Jasper and Orangeburg counties should develop a rust management plan in the next seven to 10 days,” Mueller said. “They can consult their local county agents for assistance.”

“Growers north of this area can wait a little longer until they focus their sprays on rust rather than the leaf, pod and stem diseases,” he said.

Scouting of soybean fields in the Savannah Valley will be intensified in the next few days. Results will be announced as soon as they are available.

Mueller said that county agents Joe Varn and Marion Barnes collected other samples from Dorchester County that resembled the pustules on leaves from Hampton County, but positive identification of rust was not possible due to lack of sporulation.

A total of 13 fields in the Lower Savannah Valley were scouted last week.

“Two of them were within 100 yards of the affected field, but no sign of rust was detected in either,” he said.

Plant disease experts at Clemson University are keeping a close eye on the soybean crop since rust has the potential to devastate fields quickly once it becomes well established.

Producers can keep up with the latest on rust at: www.usda.gov/soybeanrust.

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