Farmers invited to phone it in for soybean rust update

July 14, 2005

Farmers invited to phone it in for soybean rust update

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Indiana farmers can let their fingers do the walking in the battle against Asian soybean rust.

Purdue University Extension has unveiled a toll-free phone line with timely information about the fungal disease. Producers can reach the Soybean Rust Update line by dialing the Purdue Extension hotline and asking for the update. The hotline number is 1-888-398-4636 (EXT-INFO). After hours and on weekends, callers should dial the number and then zero when they hear the recorded message.

The line will be updated several times per week, and daily if the situation warrants, said Greg Shaner, Purdue Extension plant pathologist.

"We've set up a phone line where anybody in the state can call and find out the current status of soybean rust," said Shaner, who will prepare and present the phone message. "We'll talk about where rust has been confirmed, where we think it might be moving and our recommendations for control."

The phone updates also will be posted on the Ag Answers Web site. Ag Answers is an electronic news source for farmers, with information from Extension specialists at Purdue and Ohio State University. Ag Answers serves as Purdue's primary source for soybean rust information.

Purdue is attacking soybean rust on two other fronts as well.

Monday and Tuesday (July 18 and 19), Purdue Extension and the university's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology will sponsor four free Soybean Rust In-the-Field Updates. The special field events are free and take place at Purdue's Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE), Davis-Purdue Agricultural Center, Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center and Southwest-Purdue Agricultural Center.

The programs feature Shaner and Tadashi Yorinori, a plant pathologist with Embrapa, Brazil's national soybean research center. Yorinori has extensive experience with soybean rust.

Field day topics include: Should I spray? Is soybean rust in Indiana? Did Hurricane Dennis bring rust spores? What are the Purdue sentinel plots showing? Will I need a second fungicide spray? When should I apply that second spray?

The field days are scheduled at the following times and locations:

• July 18, 9-11 a.m. - ACRE, 4540 U.S. 52 West, West Lafayette, Ind.

• July 18, 3:30-5:30 p.m. - Davis-Purdue Ag Center, 6230 N. Indiana 1, Farmland, Ind.

• July 19, 9-11 a.m. - Southeast-Purdue Ag Center, 4425 E. County Road 350 N, Butlerville, Ind.

• July 19, 3:30-5:30 p.m. - Southwest-Purdue Ag Center, 4669 N. Purdue Road, Vincennes, Ind.

Another tool in the soybean rust control kit is a publication titled "Preparing for Asian Soybean Rust."

The 15-page booklet, written by Purdue Extension specialists, covers the foliar disease from initial infection to yield-loss prevention. The booklet is loaded with color photographs and includes instructions for submitting soybean leaf samples to Purdue's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory for rust analysis.

Single copies of "Preparing for Asian Soybean Rust" are $2 and available through county offices of Purdue Extension. Ask for publication ID-324-S.

Bulk orders of the booklet are available in packages of 25 for $5 by logging onto the Purdue Extension Education Store or by contacting Purdue's Media Distribution Center. To reach the Media Distribution Center or for the Extension office near you, call the toll-free Purdue Extension hotline.

The booklet also can be downloaded as a PDF file at no charge.

Farmers should continue to inspect their fields for soybean rust in the days and weeks ahead, Shaner said.

"There's no report of soybean rust anywhere other than Alabama, Florida and Georgia," he said. "The path of Hurricane Dennis was perfect for bringing spores from confirmed sources up into the Midwest, and possibly into Indiana. But because there's no abundant source of disease in the South, we would anticipate it would be a very light spore load.

"For this reason, it's really important that growers be scouting their fields. We need as many people looking for soybean rust as we possibly can."

Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 471-4973, sleer@purdue.edu

Source: Greg Shaner, (765) 494-4651, shanerg@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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