Cropping Issues in Northwest Minnesota

This article was written by Angie Peltier. The 2024 growing season couldn't have been any more ideal for sudden death syndrome (SDS) symptoms to appear in soybeans during reproductive growth stages, provided your field was infested with Fusarium virguliforme , the fungus that causes SDS. If you encounter soybeans in northwest Minnesota, please send me an email (apeltier@umn.edu) or give me a call {(218) 281-8692} as I would like to come and check out your field and collect isolates for further study. Wet weather this spring lead some to 'mud in' their soybeans, likely lead to both side wall and general compaction and wet weather after planting all favor infection by F. virguliforme. Infection can take place just as soon as the radicle breaks through the seed coat.  While SDS can cause root rot, it is most often much later in the growing season that the most conspicuous symptoms of SDS become evident. While the fungus remains below ground, plenty of rain during the reproduct

T his article was written by Angie Peltier, UMN Extension crops educator. In recent days I have had the chance to drive around the region to see what there is to see in soybeans. In the small blessings department, it looks as if recent rains and the fungal pathogens that they favor, natural enemies of the soybean aphid and/or shortening daylength and declining food quality of soybeans has resulted in soybean aphid populations dropping far below treatment thresholds. If one does find a soybean population at treatment threshold (an average of 250 aphids per plant, more than 80% of plants infested, populations increasing), double check soybean growth stage by opening up and taking a look at the seeds in the pods at the top four leaf axils. If the seeds within the pods are nearly filling the seed cavity, the crop is approaching the full seed or R6 growth stage and will soon begin losing leaves, pods will begin to reach a mature color and seeds dry down. It is the rare situation (very h