Replicated on-farm tests were established in Beaufort, Halifax, and Person counties to document the level of resistance to southern stem canker in many of our more popular soybean varieties, and to provide a more-likely-than-usual opportunity to observe stem canker development in North Carolina. Stem canker has seldom been documented in NC, but two fields (the ones the 2016 Halifax and Person County tests were located in) were completely destroyed (100% of the plants died prematurely) by stem canker in 2015.
Very little stem canker was detected in Beaufort or Halifax counties, and the stem canker observed in Person County was not nearly as severe as in the same field in 2015. Nor did it develop as early in the season. Almost all the stem canker observed in these three tests was in the two varieties rated susceptible to stem canker, leading us to conclude that the ratings were probably pretty close to accurate.