Don Hershman, Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky
Considering the cool, wet, and late year we have just experienced, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that certain late-season soybean fungal diseases are more extensive than usual. In a more typical year, crops that mature in late summer, especially early maturing varieties planted early, tend to experience the most intense foliar, stem and pod fungal disease pressure. This is because those crops are filling pods and maturing at a time when conditions tend to favor disease development (hot and wet). Normally, doublecrop and other late-planted crops are less susceptible to late-season fungal diseases because they mature in September-mid-October when conditions tend to be dry. Not this year!
