2021
Asian Soybean Rust Monitoring System
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Contributor/Checkoff:
South Carolina Soybean Board
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
Crop protectionDiseaseField management
Parent Project:
Asian Soybean Rust Monitoring System
Lead Principal Investigator:
Jonathan Croft, Clemson University
Co-Principal Investigators:
J. Varn, Clemson University
Project Code:
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
South Carolina Soybean Board
$2,000
Institution Funded:
Clemson University
$2,000
Brief Project Summary:

This project’s overall objective and goal is to implement a monitoring system for Asian soybean rust in the southwestern part of South Carolina. The monitoring system is a safety net that will help identify when rust is present in the state, allowing soybean growers ample time to make management decisions for their farms.

Key Benefactors:
farmers, agronomists, extension agents

Information And Results
Project Deliverables

Results from the monitoring program will be reported to growers, agricultural industry professionals, and Clemson Extension personnel through weekly email news notes during the months of July – October. Information will also be reported to the SC Soybean Board through the expected quarterly reports.

Final Project Results

Project Summary
The projects overall objective and goal was to implement a monitoring system for Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) in the Southwestern part of South Carolina. The monitoring system is intended to be a safety net that will help identify when ASR is present in SC, allowing soybean growers ample time to make management decisions for their farms.

For the 2021 season, we began sampling kudzu sites in Hampton and Allendale County the first week of April. No ASR was identified in kudzu in 2021. Sampling of soybean monitoring sites started the week of July 12th. We continued to sample soybean fields as part of the official sampling until the end of September at which time the SC soybean crop was no longer at risk for yield loss from ASR. To fully document the spread of ASR in SC during 2021 we continued sampling until mid-October.

The first News Note was sent out to growers, agents and agricultural industry representatives on July 16, 2021. The first ASR identified in soybeans in SC occurred on August 26th, in Bamberg County. This was identified by Joe Varn. At that time weather conditions were conducive for the spread of ASR in SC and we made recommendations in the News Note that soybean growers, consider the use of foliar fungicides for the control or prevention of ASR.

At the end of September, we sent out our last official note. Agents expanded the sampling area to document how many counties rust spread to during the growing season. At the conclusion of sampling in mid-October ASR had been identified in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Hampton, and Newberry Counties.

Key Performance Indicators
A weekly summary of the sampling results was emailed to soybean producers, ag industry professionals, University and Extension personnel as planned. The sampling and summary emails began on July 16, 2021 and concluded at the end of September 2021. There are approximately 450 individuals on the email distribution list used for the weekly emailing of the Soybean Rust News Note.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.