A strip trial comparing the use of fungicides versus no fungicides and the continuation of Scouting Schools to promote active disease management.

1. Test the effectiveness of current, farmer-implemented fungicide applications in managing foliar fungal diseases and for increasing soybean yield.
2. Execute disease scouting schools designed for farmers and extension specialists that provide hands-on training of how to scout, rate, and sample for foliar diseases of soybean.

This project will ultimately serve to provide Missouri producers with disease management data relevant to Missouri environments and to provide tools for identifying and scouting for foliar diseases in their fields.

Continued implementation of Scouting Schools around the state of Missouri to provide farmers, ag professionals, extension specialists, and other stakeholders with a hands-on view of disease management in soybean fields. Each school aims to focus on the pressing issues regarding disease management, how to scout of disease, and the basics of fungicide resistance management.

Updated April 27, 2021:
Fungicide applications can be an essential part of an integrated management plan if timed and applied appropriately. The question of whether fungicide applications provide added value to current crop production practices is of exceeding importance.

In the 2020 season, ten field sites were selected throughout the state of Missouri representing a diversity of cropping
systems. At each site, five paired strips (no fungicide and with a cooperator-chosen fungicide) were laid out across the field. To assess and document disease differences, each strip was scouted prior to and approximately two weeks following the fungicide application. Visual assessments also were conducted utilizing aerial imagery at each scouting
point. Environmental conditions during the growing season at many locations were not ideal for the development of most foliar diseases of soybean. In the 2020 growing season, the primary diseases observed were Septoria brown spot and sudden death syndrome. Differences in Septoria brown spot control with the application of a fungicide were noted at a single location. At this same location and two additional locations, yield increases of greater than 1 bushel per acre were observed.

An additional and vital component of this project is the implementation of soybean Scouting Schools. Due to limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Scouting Schools were held both in-person at 3 locations and in a virtual format 2 times. Despite these limitations, attendees gained valuable insight about diseases impacting soybean production in Missouri. Each Scouting School focused on the principles of disease management, emerging pathogens of field crops, and how to utilize tools to minimize yield losses due to disease.

With this information, Missouri producers can be better prepared and armed with the tools to minimize yield losses due to pathogens in their fields.