Sentinel Plots to Monitor the Spread of Soybean Rust in US Soybean Production Regions

·Soybean rust (SBR), caused by the fungus Phalwpsora pachyrhizi, was first detected in the . United States in Louisiana in early November, 2004. Epidemics of the disease in the North Central Region are predicted to be sporadic, and with varying intensity, depending on the timing and speed of northward movement of the pathogen ITomthe South, and the level of over-winter survival of the SBR fungus in the Gulf Coast and Caribbean regions. Since 2005, growing season conditions have not been conducive for SBR development except in states that border the Gulf of Mexico. However, significant late-season movement of the disease into the Midwest occurred in 2007. At the present, we still do not have a complete awareness ofthe full potential for SBR to damage soybean in the North Central Region. The goal of this proposal is to continue the soybean rust monitoring and the early warning network that was established in 2005.