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Showing posts from March, 2021

Soybean cyst nematode update

Why care about SCN. The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the top yield limiting pathogen of soybean, responsible for an estimated 6.57 million bushels lost in Minnesota in 2019 alone. On a per acre basis, SCN costs us on average $8.25 (Crop Protection Network, 2021). Soybean root with small white arrows pointing to cysts of SCN. Cysts are female nematodes swollen with eggs. The higher the SCN population density (eggs in a little bit less than 1/2 cup soil) in a field, the more of both these microscopic worms there are to hatch and infect roots and the threat to soybean yield potential. Multiple SCN generations means that some of those eggs produced within the 2021 growing season can hatch and infect roots. We in northwest Minnesota have an additional risk factor that folks in much of the rest of the country do not have: alkaline soil pH. SCN population densities tend to rise faster, and be more resilient to drop -even when SCN is actively managed- in alkaline soils. It can be quite